Beneath the stars
by Linnea.E
Summary: The whole forest is holding its breath, like it knows what is comming. The brunette by the fire knows too. But can he really do it, after all these years? It is now or never. But how will the blond king react? The stars are shining and secrets will be revealed. But from were comes the mist? And what does Gwaine and Percival have to do with things?
1. 1 Beneath the stars

**This is my first actually fanfic story, before I have only written a few Merlin poems. So I want it to be pretty poetical, and I have tried to keep the caracters in nature. I don't know when the next chapter will be up, probably at the end of the week or so. Please rewiev...Rewievs are love 3 **

** Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin, if I had Merlins magic would have been revealed long time ago. I have serious problems with seeing how the land of Albion will be united in like three episodes. Anyway I do not own Merlin. **

**On to the story... hope you'll like it**

* * *

**Beneath the stars**

They were sitting by the fire in the woods, just the two of them. They had been on a quest, a hard and tricky one. They were just sitting quiet. It was a lovely evening and the woods were quiet, almost holding its breath like it knew what was coming. The brunette, who was sitting by the fire, knew too, he knew the time had come. He could feel that this was the time, the time he had waited on for so long now. Only the blonde boy was oblivious of what was going to come.

"Arthur, what if I had a secret?" The brunette said, looking at the sky, trying to avoid the blue eyes of the blond boy.

"_You, _Merlin? What would that be?" The blonde boy said. Merlin didn't answer.

"Merlin?" Arthur asked, as his servant had been quiet for quit a long time. Merlin was still quiet, just looking up in the sky, where the stars had begun to shine.

"You know, we are all so tiny, and all our problems are just nothing compared to the big black sky."

"_What_ are you talking about Merlin?" Arthur asked, but Merlin seemed to be caught in what ever thought he was thinking.

"What if I had the biggest, darkest secret a man can possibly have? Would you accept? Would you kill me?" Merlin turned his head towards the king.

"Stop talking nonsense, Merlin, _you_? You can't have a secret. I can read you like an open book, and besides, you know I could never kill you. This is just stupid. Good night."

Arthur moved around, trying to find a comfortable position, but he couldn't find one. They were lying quiet for some time, each one in their own thoughts. The cold wind whipped their faces as the moon raised and begun to sing her lonely song, not aware of the two boys beneath her. The leaves that were still on the trees rustled quietly. It was a beautiful but cold night, as it was nearly November. Arthur had just begun to fall asleep when Merlin spoke once again.

"Maybe it is best if I just stay here out here forever"

"And why on _earth_ would you want to do such a thing?" Arthur asked, slightly annoyed by his servant.

"I like it here, no duty, no chores to be done, no secrets. Just the stars, and me beneath them. The stars are the only ones that accept me, and the stars don't have any secrets. I think the stars are the only ones who doesn't"

Arthur frowned and then said, trying to sheer his servant up:

"Merlin, this is just stupid, but if you stay here I will stay with you."

And then he said, with a smile on his face:

"But if you really do, then who will clean my clothes, serve me my dinner and polish my armor?"

This made the brunette smile, but only for a moment.

"I'm serious Arthur, please stop being such a prat. I think it would be best for everyone if I just stayed here. I just feel that everyone has such high expectations on me… you, Gaius, the druids, the dragon and then every sorcerer in the world, and if I don't fulfill my destiny the great land of Albion will never come to be. And if that wasn't enough I have to protect you, AND stay in the shadows to not risk my own life." Merlin fell silent when he realized Arthur was staring at him in the dark evening, his blue eyes big with surprise and chook.

"Merlin, have you been drinking?"

"No! I leave that kind of stuff to Gwaine"

"Then what the hell are you talking about?!"

"I told you that it would be best if I stayed here, that you would never accept me"

"Merlin, for the sake of God, stop talking in riddles!"

"Look Arthur, I know you are not going to like this, it is more like you are going to try to kill me for it, but I want you to know that I couldn't help this, and please just try to think of it from my point of view."

Merlin grew quiet once again, leaving the king confused. Arthur was just going to ask Merlin to stop messing around and talk nonsense, when Merlin said the three words that would change both their lives forever. Merlin took a deep breath and said:

"I have magic".

* * *

**Soo... How will Arthur react? You'll see. Next chapter at the end of the week, and remember rewievs just makes my day. :) Have a good time, snowy greetings from Sweden and Linnéa 3**


	2. 2 The soaring flower

**Here it is, the next chapter. Yaaay! So I know I said at the end of the week but I really wanted to post this as soon as possible. And I have some questions but I'll come to that later. **

**Anyway thanks everyone who has read, added to favorites and followed this story. It just makes me happy :) And a special thanks to Samerys707, Moon Fox and Method in Madness reviewed the story. Hope I don't disappoint you guys :) **

**So...on to these questions. Please answer so I don't get it wrong in the coming chapters. It is about the 'mind-speaking-thing-ish' that Merlin sometimes do. so first question: **

** Can you speak with peope that don't have magic, only that they can't responde or can't they hear you? **

** Can all sorcerers in an area hear when somebody speaks or can you speak to only one person and the others can't hear you even if they have magic? **

** Do you have to see the person you are trying to speak to? **

** Alright, thats all questions for now. Please answer so I can continue writing and update faster. I do not own Merlin if you thought so I just write this for fun. Here we go :)**

* * *

Merlin looked in to the blue eyes of the king, and the blue eyes looked back. Then the king started to laugh.

"Seriously? You, Merlin? That was the silliest thing I've ever heard." The blond boy continued to laugh until he saw the expression on his manservants face. Merlin didn't look amused at all.

"You can´t really expect me to_ believe_ that." Arthur said, not as amused anymore.

"Mae ciw blodau ar frigyn mor wyrdd, codi allan o fy llaw(1)" Merlin said, his voice deeper and more powerful than Arthur had ever heard it. Then Arthur could have sworn that Merlins eyes turned all _gold_ for just a moment and then a flower started to grow out of Merlins hand. It was a delicate flower, Arthur had never seen anything like it, and it seemed to glow slightly. Then Merlin said:

"Rydych yn rhad ac am ddim(2)" His eyes glowing gold again, just for a moment, and then the flower started to slowly soar away, up in the sky, until they couldn't see it anymore. Arthur was too shocked to say anything, he just stared at the spot where the flower had been before it disappeared in the black sky.

_Merlin was a sorcerer, Merlin! He couldn't believe it! That couldn't be him, Merlin was too…too much _Merlin_ to be a sorcerer. This couldn't be him. How…when had Merlin started to practice magic? And what were his intentions? No…This was just ridiculous. This could not be Merlin. No, this…this wasn't Merlin. This must be a sorcerer disguised as Merlin. Yes, like that it must be. It must. _

Arthur got up and pulled out his sword, pointing it at Merlin.

"Who are you and what have you done to Merlin?!" He shouted, still pointing his sword at the brunette on the ground. The expression in Merlin's dark blue eyes was sad, so incredibly sad. Once again Arthur shouted:

"Where is Merlin?! What have you done to him?! Tell me if you want to live!"

"Arthur, calm yourself. I _am_ Merlin. But I am also Emrys, the warlock the druid prophecies speak of and it is my destiny to protect you, to make sure you will unite the land of Albion and that magic will return to thus land. I was born with magic Arthur, and I don't just _have_ magic, I _am_ magic, as much as you are the king of Camelot. You need to know that not all magic are evil, I am not evil. You must trust me Arthur, have I ever done anything to hurt you?"

"_Merlin _hasn't done anything to hurt me, but you are not him!"

Arthur was still pointing his sword against Merlin, beginning to sound more and more desperate for every word. He didn't really listen, he didn't want to hear this. The brunette on the ground, with the sword pointed towards him, the sword he had created, didn't know what to say, he had a feeling that nothing he could say would make the king change his mind. Why had he told him? It seemed like a good idea then, but now he just wished he hadn't. Then he got an idea. He wasn't sure if it was going to work, but he had to try.

"Arthur" he said "have you never noticed how much luck we always have, always getting away with a minimum of damage out of battle and after facing evil sorcerers and monsters and you name it. It has always been me, I have saved your life more times than I can count. I _am_ Emrys, the warlock that Morgana fears more than anything, you know that she does. Believe me, if I would ever have wanted Camelot or you any harm, you wouldn't be here."

"Aha! So you admit that you are Emrys and not Merlin then!" Arthur said, more trying to convince himself than his servant. Merlin looked sad and he turned away from the king who still had his sword pointed directly towards him. Merlin looked up at the sky and continued;

"Did you even listen to me? I AM MERLIN but I am also Emrys, that is what the druid call me. I can prove to you that I am Merlin. Arthur you have to trust me." The servant said. He looked up at the stars like they had all the answers and then he begun to speak. "Remember first time I saw you? You were throwing knives at your servant and I called you an ass. Then I tried to punch you in the face. You threw me in the dungeons." Merlin smiled weakly at the memory. "And the next time I saw you you tried to kill me with a mace. I had wounds for weeks. Actually, I still have scars. And then I saved you from that witch at Uthers banquet. She threw a knife at you and I pushed you out of the way. Then Uther made me your manservant as thanks." Merlin stopped as he realized Arthur had putted down his sword and was slowly beginning to sit down, next to Merlin. He was pale, but he smiled just slightly towards Merlin.

"I was so angry at father for making you my manservant" He said, smiling weakly. "I really didn't understand how I was going to live with you as my servant, you were so clumsy and nosey. And now, look at you. You are even worse" Arthur smiled, and Merlin did too. He knew that he had Arthur back at his side.

"Well at least I am not a big dollop headed prat" Merlin said, relieved that the king wasn't trying to kill him anymore. Then he looked at Arthurs face and the jolliness he had felt was gone within a second.

"I…I just can't believe that you are a sorcerer. If… if my father would have known, he would have killed you. I should kill you. But… but I know you, and you are the most loyal person I have ever known. But now I'm not sure of that anymore, you lied to me all these years." The blond king said, the doubts shining in his eyes. Merlin didn't know what it was he doubted, that he was a sorcerer or magic wasn't evil or something else.

"Arthur you have to trust me, I didn't want to lie to you, and you don't know how any nights I have been sleepless because of this, but if you've known earlier, would you have let me live?" Merlin asked.

"No, you are probably right, but still, how could I not notice? And… and…" Arthur grew quiet as a thought ran through his head. The brunette stared at the blonde, as the eyes of his friend grew bigger and bigger.

"And all the times I have treated you so bad, and you could just have said one just word and I would have been dead. But… but you didn't." Arthur said. "Why didn't you?"  
"All magic is not evil" was all Merlin said, with a sad expression on his face.

"All my life I have been taught that magic is evil" The blond king said," And now I don't know what to think. I mean, all sorcerers I have met have been evil, corrupted by their magic. And… and now you are here and I don't know what to think anymore."

"Arthur, I…" He had not the chance to finish the sentence before a thick smog came crawling towards them, all of sudden the woods were quiet and nothing moved. The last thing Arthur saw was the stars, shining above them. Maybe Merlin was right, everything was nothing compared to the big black sky, and Arthur found comfort in the thought before all went black.

* * *

**Thats it for now then. Hope it wasn't to disappointing. Do you want to find out what will happen next? You will, probably on sunday or maybe even saturday if I am nice, but that depends on the reviews, and please answer the questions so I can continue writing. **

**And you can guess in the reviews what you think will happen. Will be fun to see what you think. Have a good day :)**


	3. 3 The thoughts of a once and future king

**So, here is the next chapter. Thank you Moon fox and OfMagicAndLife for your answers on my questions :) Feel free to review everyone and marry cristmas, joyeux noel, god jul. That was english, french and swedish. All the languages I know :) **

**Disclaimer: I do (Sadly) not own Merlin**

* * *

The first thought that hit Arthur was that Merlin was a sorcerer, _Merlin_. He had still hard to believe it. How could he not have noticed? For all these years Merlin had been by his side, and still…Then he felt the pain. The pain was everywhere, in his head, his chest, his stomach, everywhere. He tried to open his eyes and failed. He tried again, but all he could see was a blurry mess. It was so hard to just open his eyes that little, and he felt that he was going to faint, again.

Next time he woke up, he had no idea where he was, and why was it so hard to open his eyes? After several tries, he finally succeeded. But if he had known what he would see, he probably wouldn't have tried to open them in the first place.

He was in some sort of dungeon, with his hands bound behind his back. He looked around but couldn't see anything except for the grey stone and the water that was dripping down the walls.

He heard someone groan and then realized that it was himself. He couldn't help it, everything just hurt, and then he started to wonder where on earth was he?! He could hear footsteps echo in the cold and wet room, and then he heard the wooden door open and in stepped no one less then Morgana herself. Arthur had had his suspicions that it had been Morgana that had abducted them, and now they proved true. He stared in horror at her. She wore a black long dress and her hair was all messed up, like the habitat of a raven. But that was not what he was staring at.

He was staring at the dead eyes of his half-sister and all his pain physical disappeared for a moment. It was like he was sucked in to two whirlpools, so deep and so black. So filled with pain and…and he didn't know, he didn't know the word for such horrible feelings, that he could see in this girls eyes. It was like the girl he used to know, the beautiful lady Morgana, the girl she used to be, had been moving out of her body and in her place there was a twisted black shadow, a demon who only desired pain and misery. Arthur lost his breath.

"W…what happened to you?" he stuttered. The young king was not the kind of person who used to stutter but he was so taken aback by the cruelness of his half-sister that he couldn't help it.

"What happened to me? What happened to _me_?!" Morgana screamed angrily, but then she laughed. It was a terrifying sound, and it hurt in Arthurs ears. "What happened to me, my _dear brother_" She spitted out the last words like they hurt her tongue "Was that I grew up. I realized what plague our father was to this land, and what plague you are. I took care of father, and now I am going to take care of you. But first we are going to have some fun, don't you think?"

"What do you mean by 'took care of father'? The old man Dragoon killed him. Did he work for you?" Arthur said, quit confused.

"Oh Arthur, Arthur, Arthur, sitting there on your throne and not knowing a thing. I almost feel pity whit you. That man, 'Dragoon' as you like to call him, was only trying to help you. In fact it was the great Emrys himself who was trying to help you. But I cast a spell so every magic would be multiplied by three when cast on father. Emrys didn't have a chance…" Morgana laughed again when she saw how Arthur first looked surprised and then terrified.

Then he started to think. Something Morgana had said bothered him, and he had to know what it was. What was it Merlin had said before? He had to remember, he had to. Something that Morgana said, yes, something about Emrys! Merlin had also talked about Emrys, he said that Emrys was his name, given to him by the druids. And Morgana had said that the old man had been Emrys. So Dragoon must have been Merlin in disguise! All he had been trying to do was to help Arthur get his father back, a man who would have killed him if he had known, and Arthur had blamed him for the death of his father. He could feel the guilt flush over him, but he tried to not show it on his face, since Morgana observed his face expression thoroughly. Did Morgana know that Emrys was Merlin? He didn't think so, but he had to ask, he had to know.

"Do you know who this 'Emrys' is?" He asked trying to sound arrogant, like he didn't believe that there was an Emrys hanging around, helping him. Of course he knew better than that. But he tried to act like he once should have done. He hadn't expected Morganas rage, but once he said it she slapped him across his face so hard that his eyes blurred, and he had involuntarily tears in them.

"Do you think you would still live if I had known who Emrys is? You don't even have a clue how many times that man has ruined my plans." She smiled, but Arthur could see the contempt in her eyes and in her face. "You are so blind, dear brother, Emrys is the greatest resource you have ever had and ever will have. And yet, you are so dumb, so oblivious, so _arrogant _that magic still is forbidden." She knelt down and looked him straight in the eyes when she said;

"But that will change. With you here, Emrys will try to rescue you. Then I will kill him, and Camelot will be mine. All those who have magic will be free, and all the ones who don't, well they will regret the day they were born" She said, the last bit in that calm voice she sometimes speaks with, and Arthur thought that that voice was even worse than when she screamed, because he could see that she actually enjoyed this. It made him so very sad, that the girl he once knew was so completely changed. She had been such a lovely person, back then, back before everything.

"You will never ever succeed with your evil plan! Over my dead body" He shouted.

"Oh, dear brother, that could be fixed so easy" She said whit the creepy calm voice she had used before. "But, the time is not yet right, first I will have to trick Emrys here, because without him, Camelot is doomed." She laughed as she walked away, leaving Arthur devastated. '_Emrys won't come to the rescue this time' _he thought sadly '_because he came here with me'_

But truly, Arthur didn't know if Merlin had come there with him or not. He didn't even know if his servant was dead or alive. But of course Merlin was alive, he always managed to make it through every battle they fought, every sorcerer they met and every monster they killed. Arthur had always just thought that Merlin was lucky, but now he realized that it had been Merlins _magic_ who had kept his servant alive.

'_I don't _have_ magic, I _am_ magic'. _Merlins words were ringing in his head over and over again. Arthur started to feel hurt and betrayed. Even though he knew he probably would have executed Merlin if the man had told him earlier. It was like ha was two different persons inside, there in the cold and wet dungeon, and he didn't know how he could be so split.

One side of him, the selfish side (The "Prat-side" as Merlin would've called it) kept on saying that Merlin had betrayed him, that he was a sorcerer, that he was evil, because magic was evil. But the other side, (The "Once and future king-side" as Merlin would've called it) Wait, why was he thinking of what Merlin would've called it?

Merlin must've cast some kind of spell on him, said the "prat-side" (God dammit, he had to stop thinking that way), but the wiser, more understanding part of him said that it was because Merlin was his best friend and he missed him, and Merlin was probably right, if he had wanted to destroy Camelot and kill Arthur he had had more than enough chances to do that.

The wiser side (hah, he didn't think of it as the "Once and future king-side"! But he realized he just did, god dammit again!) and the selfish side continued to argue. But at the end, the selfish, childish side of him lost, and he realized just how much he had changed, much tanks to Merlin. He had so much to thank the servant for, when he saw him again. If he saw him again.

Arthur pushed that thought out of his head. He _was _going to get out of this, he and Merlin always did. But, he had hard to see how. He thought that he could as well try to sleep, even though his hand were bound behind his back, his whole being hurt and the floor was wet and cold. The whole cell was wet and cold. He was hungry as well and he wondered how long he had been in the dungeon. Probably pretty long. His thoughts drifted away, back to Camelot as he fell asleep. His last conscious thought was about what would happen to Camelot if he died. He fell asleep but it was a sleep haunted by nightmares.

* * *

**That was that, not such a cliffhanger this time. And I know it wasn't really much Merlin in this chapter, but don't worry, next chapter will be more Merlin, but also a bit of Gwaine. I loooove Gwaine. Anyway, please review, thats all I want for christmas :) So in the spirit of cristmas, tel me what you think and what should happen next. And shall or sall not the Great Dragon be in this story? Please tell me! Love you all :)**


	4. 4 I know how it is more than anyone

**I just watched the last episode of Merlin! I can't believe it is over, I almost cried! I don't understand why they are putting down the show :(**

**Anyway, I can always read fanfics of course. And I am not giving up this one only because the serie is over. I know that this is a really short chapter, and that I promised you Gwaine, but I had to split the chapter in two. I think I will pút up the next on monday so you don't have to wait for so long. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin, If I did I would never ever ever put down the show. Never. .**

* * *

Merlin was, unlike Arthur, pretty clear in his head when he woke up. He was not as wounded as Arthur either, but he was furious. It wasn't often Merlin got furious, most people who knew him would say that he was almost always happy, it was just who he was as a person. But, now he was furious, so furious that he trembled and he had to try his utmost to not let his magic slip and tear apart the whole building. If he did, Morgana would know that he had magic and then she could put two and two together and realize that he was Emrys.

Not even Merlin himself could remember the last time he had been so mad. _He had told Arthur his secret, he had told Arthur he had magic! _And Arthur had accepted it. Or…not exactly, but he was on his way towards it, but then Morgana came and _ruined everything! _It was supposed to be one of the best moments ever and she had the audacity to ruin it, to attack them! It was just luck that Morgana hadn't come to the dungeon at that moment when Merlin woke up, because he would probably killed her then and there. When he thought of it it was rather pity that she didn't.

After the most of his anger had settled down he frowned. He wondered were Arthur was, and if he was okay. Unlike Arthur Merlin instantly knew that it was Morgana who had kidnapped them, he could feel her twisted dark magic everywhere, in the very being of whatever fort or castle he was trapped in. He had to calm down, it could be his life resting on it. Morgana could _not _find out about his magic. As he tried to take deep breaths he heard footsteps. Then the wooden door opened and in stepped no less then Morgana herself. He had to stop himself from looking at her with discuss, her magic was so dark and twisted that he felt sick. He just hoped she couldn't feel his magic. But if she could, she would've probably already killed him.

"So _Merlin_" She spitted out the name. "Here you are, the servant who has been such a nail in the eye for me for such a long time." She came closer, and then kicked the servant in his ribs. Merlin drew a shaky breath.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to kill you now, that wouldn't be fun at all, would it?" She smiled, but it wasn't any joyful smile. "I am going to keep you alive, only so you can witness when your dear Emrys comes and tries to save the king. But I have a trap for him, and after he is dead, the whole Camelot will be mine" She had meant to make Merlin sad, but he didn't react like she had expected him to. She had always known him as a stupid servant, although a very annoying stupid servant, but nothing else. She had never seen the man that Merlin had become, the person that was wise, powerful, and who unofficially the best advisor of the king.

"Why are you doing this? I know you hated Uther, and I can understand why, but why would you do this to Arthur?! Don't you understand?! It's because of you, and other people like you that magic isn't legal. If everybody only shows Arthur the bad side of magic, then how on earth do you expect him to realize that it can be good too? You don't even give him a try!" Merlin cried out, his eyes filled with tears that were threatening to overflow. Morgana was taken by surprise, but then she shouted angrily:

"You don't know how it was, to live with the man who claimed to love you but would've executed you if he known your secret. Arthur is just the same as his father, a plague to this land. And you are just his little trained monkey that follows every order from it's master. Do you know what Merlin? I will keep you alive, let you see when I tear down the walls of Camelot, stone by stone. All your friends dead, and Camelot under my control." She smirked.

"I wonder who is most like Uther, you or Arthur" he wispered, and Morgana slapped him in the face and screamed;

"You know nothing about me! You know nothing about how I suffered! Nothing about how it was!" Then she left, furious. Quiet, so the leaving Morgana couldn't hear, Merlin whispered:

"I know how it is more than anyone"

* * *

**That was that. Not my favorite chapter exactly but anyway review! Rewievs make me happy and happy author=quicker updates. And than everyone who have favorited, followed and reviewed :)**


	5. 5 We need you, Strength

**Hello everyone, happy new year!**

**I know I was supposed to upload this yesterday, but it was new years eve so...Anyway, here is the chapter, with Gwaine and everything, like I promised :) If you want to, leav a review, it always makes me happy :) **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin, if I did there would be at least five more seasons of it**

* * *

We need you, Strength

* * *

Merlin didn't know how long he had been in the dungeon, because the cell had no windows so he couldn't see if it was day or night. He didn't know what to do, but he didn't feel sleepy at all, so he couldn't sleep. He could of course use his magic to escape, it would be easy to untie the ropes that held his hands at his back, then just blow the door up and run. He didn't even think he would have a problem with the guards, no matter how many they were. But he couldn't do that, not without revealing his magic to Morgana, and the magic had to continue being a secret. Not as much for his own sake as for the sake of Camelot.

Though there was one thing he could do, but it was quite exhausting. He had to try anyway. He reached out his magic to check the area. He could feel the wet, cold, dead stones, the lights of life that were the guards if they were working for Morgana Merlin felt relief that he wasn't all alone in the fort.

It took him a few more minutes to find what he was searching for, but it was rather hard to miss it. If the guards were lights, this mind was like a fire, burning through sticks and stones, even in the deepest, coldest night Merlin would recognize that mind. Arthur.

He could feel the king was sleeping, but thank god he was alive. There was nothing more he could do for with Arthur right now, but he had had to check that Arthur was alright before he could continue with his plan. He reached out his mind further, beyond the fort, the woods, the meadows, until he could feel the greatest city ever built. Camelot.

* * *

It had been an ordinary day in the life of Gwaine. He had woken up that morning, for once glad to wake up, to a lovely November day. It was quite cold, but the sun was shining and he felt that life was good. He ate his breakfast with some of the other knights and then trained on the training ground with Leon and the other knights. Then there had been a small fight in the lower town that he and Percival had cleared up, but no one had to be taken to the dungeons.

He kind of missed Merlin, and even the Princess a little bit, because they were on a kind of secret quest, but most of the knights knew about it. But he pushed the feelings away, they would be back in just a few days. He never liked them going on quests alone, he wanted to be with them so they wouldn't do anything stupid.

Come on, the Princess always got herself in trouble and Merlin was just Merlin, even though he was often very lucky he wasn't a warrior. But they hadn't died yet, so Gwaine wasn't too worried though.

He ate dinner with the rest of the court in the big hall. Then he had set of to the tavern to meet some old friends. It turned out that they wasn't so good friends as he remembered and now he was kind of running through the lower town, chased by his old so called 'friends'.

He didn't really know what to do, but they were getting closer and closer, and maybe he wasn't completely sober, and that didn't make the situation better. He turned in on a smaller street, and hid behind some bins. When he realized his follower were gone he started to walk against the citadel, to go to bed in his room. He decided that this was enough thrill for one night. Oh, how wrong he was.

Gwaine made it safe to the citadel where he met Percival on the way to his room. The two of them started to talk and everything was more or less normal. Suddenly Gwaine felt a strange feeling coming over him and the next moment he was lying on the floor. To all who saw him he must have looked unconscious, but he was aware of everything that was happening around him, but at the very same time he was not.

He heard when Percival was screaming to the guards to go and get Gaius, Percivals strong arms around him when he carried him down the stairs. He knew that he started to shake uncontrollably. He was aware of everything, but stronger than everything else, probably stronger than everything he had ever heard of, he heard the voice of Merlin.

Wait what? Why was he hearing the voice of Merlin? Merlin wasn't even there, he was on a quest with Arthur. Suddenly he could see Merlin too, but at the same time not. It was like Merlin only existed in his head, and Gwaine wondered if he'd had way too much to drink. But then Merlin-in-his-head started to speak, end everything else went fuzzy.

'Gwaine' Merlin-in-his-head said. 'You got to trust me, me and Arthur are held prisoners by Morgana, there is not much time left, I'm sorry you had to find out this way, but you need to trust me. This is real, Arthur is in danger. We are at some sort of black fort beyond the woods. Please help us, we need you, Strength' Merlin-in-his-head disappeared and Gwaine fainted.

* * *

**Well, that was that. Tell me what you think in a review :) Also, nex chapter around friday I think. Have a happy new year everybody, Greetings from Linnéa and (for the moment) not so snowy Sweden :)**


	6. 6 To trust an old physician

**Hello readers :)**

**Here is the next chapter. Pretty short, they will be so the next few chapters, but I try to update atleast twice a week to make it up to you :) **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin...(did you actually think I did?)**

* * *

To trust an old physician

* * *

The next thing Gwaine remembered was waking up in Gaius chambers. He had a pounding headache and his first thought was:

'Oww, why do I have to drink' and then he suddenly remembered that it wasn't the alcohol that had done this to him, it was Merlin! Or…wait a second, how could Merlin have done that? Gwaine wondered if it really wasn't the alcohol anyway. But still, Merlin had said that they were in the claws of Morgana, and that it was real. But at the same time, if that really had been Merlin…then he must have magic! Or it was just a trap set by Morgana.

But it had really sounded like Merlin, and he had sounded so desperate. Gwaine had to talk to someone about this, but who? Who would actually believe him and not just think that he had drunk too much. Again. The answer came walking in trough the wooden door.

"Hello. How are you Gwaine?" Gaius asked. "What happened? I found no physical injuries. Did you drink too much?"

Gwaine knew he could trust Gaius, but would Gaius believe him, he had always been the closest one to Merlin after all? There was only one way to find out, so without a second thought Gwaine threw himself, head first, like he always did, in good and evil, in to this…he didn't know what to call it…thing…talk…talk-thing. Yes, it was a talk-thing he had to do with Gaius (Secretly Gwaine loved to make up words, one of his favorites was 'drunting' which basically meant 'drunken-fighting'. He often practiced 'drunting')

"Are you okay?" Gaius asked, as he saw how Gwaine trailed off into thoughts, his eyes looking far away. Gwaine was jerked back to reality by Gaius voice and answered:

"Sure, now I am. But it was so weird. You got to believe me, Gaius, this was not a dream, and I wasn't even drunk. Or at least not much." The last bit he just mumbled, before he continued. "Anyway, I was on my way back to my room, walking along Percival, when I felt this strange feeling. I didn't know what happened, but I know I fell to the floor, I shook uncontrollably but I couldn't help it. I know Percival carried me here, I was aware of everything going on around me, but yet it felt so unrealistic."

Gaius looked concerned. "Are you sure you didn't drink too much?" He asked.

"No, but that was not the weird part. So I was in the hands of Percival, him carrying me to you, and I was aware of everything around me, but then I heard a voice." Gaius raised his eyebrow but Gwaine continued "It was the loudest thing I have ever heard. It was like a thunderstorm in my head. Then I saw the man who the voice belonged to, in my head. It was Merlin." Gwaine grew quiet when he saw Gaius face expression. The man had become all of sudden pale in his face, and he was shivering a bit.

"Wh…what did Me…Merlin say?" He stuttered. It was all he managed to say, he was in almost shock.

Gwaine did of course notice this but he continued anyway.

"He said something about him and Arthur being in danger, in Morganas claws in a fort beyond the forest. That he needed Strength, whatever that is supposed to be. And that I had to trust him." Gwaine drew a deep breath, and continued "And that he was sorry I had to find out this way."

"Do you know what he meant?" Gaius asked, now back to his normal self, but Gwaine, he was a knight after all, noticed that he was still very pale.

"Not really, but I know one thing, and that is that I need to rescue them. All the other details can I think about later. You do believe me, right Gaius?"

" I sure do, Gwaine, but I don't know what the queen and the other knights will think. I am afraid maybe you will have to do this alone."

"I am going to speak to Gwen, but Merlin is my friend, and I kind of like the Princess to, and if I have to quit my job for them, then I will do so." And with those words Gwaine left Gaius chambers to talk to the queen.

* * *

**That was that. So shool on tuesday yaay (not). Anyway review, I didn't get any for last chapter was it that bad? Please tell me if I even should continue on this or if it just is crapp. Well anyway...review and have a good day (or night, or evening, or morning or whatever) :)**


	7. 7 A talk to the queen of Camelot

**Hello, new chapter, yaaay :) Thank you so much Moon fox and Sheila90 who reviewed, it means really much to me :3 **

**Disclaimer: Sadly I don't own Merlin *sobs* **

**And please review, it makes me happy :)**

* * *

A talk to the queen of Camelot

* * *

"Gwen, Gwen, I need to talk to you!" Gwaine shouted, as he saw the queen walk down the other end of the corridor. The brown headed girl turned around as Gwaine came running towards her.

"What is it Gwaine? Are you okay? I talked to Percival and he said you were at Gaius' and that you fainted." There was nothing but pure concern in the young queens voice. "Shouldn't you rest now?"

"No, this is a really important issue that I need to talk to you about. I think your husband is in danger."

"And why would you think that?" The queen friendly asked.

Just as Gwaine was going to tell her about 'Merlin-in-his-head' and what he had said to him, he decided to keep quiet about that. First, nobody would probably believe him, not even the queen, and just think he had been drunk, or was drunk at the moment. And for the second, if Merlin had used_ magic_, he just couldn't tell everybody that, what kind of friend would he be? He just frowned and said:

"I can't tell you Gwen, You just have to trust me."

"I can promise you Gwaine, you can tell me anything."

"Not this, the person who told me this doesn't want you or anyone else to know who he is. Not yet anyway." The last he just mumbled.

"But can you at least tell me how my husband is in danger?" Gwen asked.

"Yes, he and Merlin have been captured by Morgana, and are being held as prisoners in a black fort beyond the forest. That is all I know" He said.

Gwen frowned, and he could see that she was worried.

"Can we trust this anonymous person who gave you this information?" She asked.

"I would trust him with my life" Gwaine said, and he hoped that it really had been Merlin talking to him, no matter what it meant.

"I know which fort you mean. It's called Fort Ödslighet(1) after an old lord, called Lord Ödslig. People say it has a curse, because Lord Ödslig was a great sorcerer who lived for hundreds of years ago, and who tried to conquer Camelot. But the king found out about his plans and sent his army to attack. Not a man came back from that attack, not anyone from any of the armies. They say it was Lord Ödslig that cast such powerful spell that nobody survived. Nobody has even gone near it since then." Gwen said quiet.

"How did you know that?" Gwaine asked curiously.

"Well, when I was a little girl my dad used to tell me stories, and this one was one of my favorites. I don't know how much of it that is true, but if Morgana really has taken Arthur and Merlin there, we better pray for their souls."

"No, no, I'm not the kind of man who prays, I'm going to find them." Gwaine stated.

"I'm not letting you go alone, Sir Gwaine, but neither can I let you take anyone with you. You must understand that without Arthur here the kingdom is vulnerable and I can't spear any knights on a quest to a doomed fort, not without anything to go on but your word. I'm sorry Gwaine, but I can't let you go, it's a suicide mission. Arthur and Merlin will be here in just some days, and let's say like this, if they aren't here in a week, then I will send a search party for them."

"But that will not be enough! I will gladly risk my life for them, and if we wait a week, then they might be dead!" Gwaine cried out. "I'm going to save them, whether you like it or not!"

"As queen of Camelot I can let you do no such thing, and may I remind you of that the punishment of deserting is death." She said coldly, but then she continued "But as a husband, and as a friend, I want you to go by all my heart." She smiled softly and Gwaine smiled back and started to walk away.

"And, Sir Gwaine, I do believe I gave Sir Perceval some days off, you may join him at the tavern." She said, and then headed away to her chambers. Gwaine got the point.

* * *

**(1) So...I really didn´t have a name, so it is swedish, and I know that there is no posibility in the world that rhere would have been a swedish name in that time, yet alone a one with the letter Ö. We didn't even use that alfphabet then. But for you who don't know how to prononce it Ö is pronounced like the e in Merlin. **

**Well that was (once again) a kind of short and boring chapter, but bear with me, the next chapter will be better :¨3**

**I love you all, have a nice day ;)**


	8. 8 And the moon lit their way

**Hello everybody :) **

**Here is another chapter, it's pretty short and that's why I updated so quick this time. The next chapters are going to be a bit longer and we are actualy going to find out a bit about the plot soon ( at last). Anyway, leave a review and tell me what you think of the story so far :) **

**And another thing. I wrote this fic called "At the tavern: Dumb ways to die, Camelot edition" yesterday and I would be really glad if you checked that out. It's my first crack!fic :) **

**Disclaimer: I do still not own Merlin (nope, that hasn't changed) **

**Here you go everybody; chapter 8 :)**

* * *

And the moon lit their way

Percival had thought that it would be just a normal evening at the tavern. He had met some friends and now they were chatting by the bar. He had some days off since he had been on a mission to catch a thief in one of the smaller villages. It hadn't been so hard to catch her, but she had managed to make a long cut in his harm with her knife. Not that it was deep or anything, but it had been bleeding a lot and Gaius had sewed a few stitches. But now he was almost fully recovered and ready to be back in business. But of course Gwen wouldn't let him work for at least another week, being one of the kindest people Percival knew.

He wasn't really surprised when Gwaine walked in, he usually spent his nights at the tavern. But Percival had thought that he was going to patrol this evening. Could Gwaine be here instead of on patrol? Nah, not even Gwaine would do such a thing. He thought it was a bit strange tough.

Percival was sitting by the bar with his friends, and the inkeeper smiled at Gwaine when he saw him.

"What would you like today, Sir Gwaine?" the inkeeper asked.

"Nothing mate, even though it is tempting, I am just here to talk to this fellow" He said and putted his hand on Percivals shoulder. Percival frowned. What would Gwaine want to talk about with him? He didn't have his uniform, he just wore a pair of brown pants, a jacket and a black tunic. He just followed Gwaine out of the tavern and in to a small ally where there were no listening ears trying to eavesdrop.

"Look Percival, I know that you are enjoying your vacation, and everything is perfect and blah, blah, blah..." Gwaine started to say. He was interrupted by Percival who muttered;

"So much for a simple hello", But Gwaine pretended he didn't hear and continued;

"The Princess and Merlin are being held prisoners by Morgana in a fort called Fort Ödslig on the other side of the woods, and we need to go there to save them."

"But why just us two? Shouldn't we have like at least ten other knights with us?" Percival asked, thinking it was a bit strange that just the two of them would go, especially since he wasn't even on duty.

"Umm…yeah, about that, we aren't really sure if they really are held prisoners, and we are kind of just following a lead. But we can trust the person who told me this, I just can't tell you who it was."

"This isn't really official, is it?" Percival asked, knowing where this was going.

"Nah, official you still have your perfect little vacation and I…I don't really know what I am doing, but Gwen will make up something."

"So when are we leaving?" Percival asked with a smile on his face, confirming that he wanted to join Gwaine.

"What about tonight? Go to your room, pack your stuff and meet me by the eastern gate at midnight."

"Um…What do we do about the guards?" Percival asked.

"Oh, come on, they are guards of Camelot, it is easier to sneak by them than to steal candy from babies. Not that I have ever done that of course." He added, looking kind of guilty. Perceval decided to ask about that later.

"Yeah, you're probably right" He said and the two of them laughed together before they walked to their rooms.

Sneaking out of Camelot really wasn't hard at all, like the two knights had predicted . The guards of Camelot weren't good at all. Not so weird how many times Morgana, other evil sorcerers, and only god knows how many other who wanted Camelots fall had managed to get inside the city. They simply had to roll a coin, and as stupid as the guards were they both followed it and made it easy for Gwaine and Percival to sneak out of the city, horses and everything.

When the princess came back he would really have to educate the guards better, Gwaine thought.

It was a cold and clear night, not so different from the night when Arthur and Merlin had been abducted by Morgana, but of course Gwaine and Percival didn't know that. The moon begun to rise so the two knights could see were to ride, it followed them, lighting up their way and just being something to find comfort in. It was almost a full moon and everything was quiet. They rode like that until they were so tired that they almost fell out of their saddles and as the first sunrays reached the horizon they made camp, both falling to sleeping in a few minutes. They didn't have any guards, because who would find them in the deep forest in the early hours of the day?

* * *

**Told you it was a short chapter. But thanks soo much for reading, I love you :) **

**And please leave a review so I know what you think, it makes me happy :) **


	9. 9 A crystal and a realization

**Here is the next chapter, yaay :) **

**I want to truly thank all that has followed, favorited and reviewed this story. You are the best! *Gives hearts and rainbow unicorns to everyone***

**Just one thing I have to say: In this story Morgana does not think that Emrys is Dragoon/Old-Merlin, she has never met him. **

**And of course, I still don't own Merlin and I am not planning to sell this or make money on it. **

**With nothing more to say; Heres the chapter :**

* * *

A crystal and a realization

The two men had no idea that they were observed. And how should they? Neither the great Emrys nor his companion could know that Morgana was watching them from her crystal. But watch them she did, smirking her evil smirk. This crystal was one of the best things she and ever purchased. The man she bought it from had said it was from the crystal cave, the birth of magic itself.

Morgana was feeling excited, because her plan was working perfect. She had known that Emrys would come to save his king, and he was so stupid that he only brought one knight with him.

He relied way too much on his magic, but she was smart. She was going to get her revenge, soon enough. Emrys wouldn't be a problem for much longer. She actually felt some kind of happiness, though it was twisted and dark, at last she knew who Emrys was.

It could of course be the other knight, the one that never spoke, but she had hard to believe so. He was actually a not so bad knight (she hated to admit it though), but the other…the only way he could've been knighted was by using his magic. She smirked again. Soon Camelot would be hers.

-oOo-

Gwaine woke up with a jerk. It had hit him like a lightning when he was soaring in the land between dream and reality, but now he had hard to remember what it was. He knew it was something important, something very important and it had had something to do with what 'Merlin-in-his-head' had said to him. He could feel it on his tongue, just beyond his reach and he was feeling not so slightly annoyed.

What was it? He was just going to give up and just forget the whole thing when he remembered what it was. Merlin had called him Strength.

He had heard that somewhere else but he just couldn't put his finger on it. It had been when Uther still was king, he was pretty sure of that, and he hadn't been a knight back then. Or had he? It was hard to remember, and it didn't become easier by the fact that he had spent most of his time in the tavern afterwards. It had something to do with a dwarf turning his sword in to a flower.

Yes! Of course! It had been when he and Merlin had gone after Arthur when he was on some kind of weird quest to get the Fisher Kings staph or something stupid like that. Gwaine couldn't remember what exactly, he had never been good at details. He rubbed his head trying to remember the rest, he knew it was important. Why did he have to drink?!

They had left their horses, and Merlin was walking in front of him. Like twenty meters in front of him or something. Then he had heard voices, Merlin and some other guy talking about magic and courage. When he finely arrived he had seen that Merlin was talking to the dwarf that turned his sword to a flower. Gwaine didn't like dwarfs, less dwarfs with magic, and even less dwarfs with magic who turned swords into flowers.

The dwarf had called him Strength, and when Gwaine thought of it, hadn't he called Merlin Magic before Gwaine had gotten there? Yes, when Gwaine actually thought about it he was pretty sure the dwarf had called Merlin Magic. Why hadn't he thought of that earlier? He had forgotten it, and hadn't thought of it much. Gwaine wasn't really the type of person who stopped and thought about things. He was more the person who threw himself, head first, into anything really.

So Merlin had magic. It was the only explanation. Once again he asked himself the question: Why hadn't he thought of this earlier?! It made total sense. How Merlin always managed to escape from everything they faced without being a swordsman or anything.

Though, he never doubted the fact that Merlin couldn't be evil. The man couldn't hurt a fly, and always on hunting trips he tried to scare away the animals (Much to Arthur's annoyance). And he'd had his chances if he had wanted to destroy or take over Camelot, many times.

But why was he loyal to Arthur? Gwaine didn't know exactly how much power Merlin had, but he thought it was weird that the man was so loyal to the king who sometimes treated him so bad. And would probably execute him if he knew. But the knight knew more than anyone how loyal Merlin could be.

* * *

**Kind of short chapter again, but don't fear, the next ones will be longer :) **

**Please review, it makes my day :)**


	10. 10 Gummy bears and evil dragons

**Well hello again.**

**I haven't updaten in almost a week *looks on the ground in shame* No but seriously, I had to write a big and boring thing for my english class, but now I'm back :) **

**Anyway, I was way to tired and high on sugar when I wrote this chapter, but it was fun. Don't worry, I will be serious in the next chapter again :)**

**Disclaimer: Never did own Merlin, still don't **

**Enjoy and please review :)**

* * *

Gummy bears and evil dragons

When the sun was starting to disappear behind the dark trees of the forest they started to slowly wake up. Percival woke first, stiff and tired after the rough journey the night before and the lack of sleep before that. He stretched out a little, but decided to lie still for a while and just chill.

He was quite surprised when Gwaine woke up some minutes after, sweaty and fast breathing. Percival wondered if he'd had a nightmare. Gwaine was lying still and just looking in the sky with unseeing eyes, and Percival wondered if he was sick or something when the other knight sat up and had a weird face expression of realization on his face. It looked kind of odd, and Percival found himself wondering what on earth Gwaine had been thinking about.

But he wasn't the type of person who just asked questions right out, so he decided that if Gwaine wanted to talk about it he could, but Percival wasn't going to ask.

They packed everything up and as the moon begun to shine they were once again on the road to Fort Ödslighet. They didn't really say much, Percival had never been the one who talked, and Gwaine seemed to be thinking about something, something he didn't want to share. The knight had never been so quiet before, at least not since Percival had gotten to know him anyway.

After a half days ride (Or more like a half nights ride) they could see the fort at the horizon, taller than the highest tree and darker than the darkest sky during a thunderstorm.

"Wow" Percival said to Gwaine "Why do the baddies always have to choose such dark and cold and I don't know…dark places to hide?" He sighted.

"I know!" Gwaine said "Why can't they just hide in a magical pink castle with flowers around and a big colorful rainbow in the sky. That would make everything so much easier!"

"Yeah! That would be so much better! And instead of an evil dragon or something like that they can have a really big gummy bear watching the door."

"Umm…Percival…We don't know what a gummy bear is…just so you know"

"Sorry sorry, I was just making up something. I thought that maybe in the future they have this weird candy who looks like bears but taste like fruit and…" He was cut off by Gwaine.

"C'mon mate, that was the most stupid thing I have ever heard of! 'A Gummy Bear' phhhhsss. It sounds like…I don't know…some sort of…" Gwaine also was cut off, but not by Percival but by the white dragon that flied just above them. Percival's horse reared and threw him off while Gwaine's horse started to run in panic before Gwaine also fell off around ten meters away from Percival. The dragon did not, however, attack them and they got away with just the fright, for this moment, when it flew away, and it didn't seem like it had noticed them.

Gwaine was the first to rise. He picked up his sword and walked over to the bigger knight.

"D'you think it saw us?" he asked when Percival groaned and rose.

"I don't know, but we would have been an easy target, lying in the ground like that. It could easy have burned us or something like that if it had wanted to."

"Yeah, back to point number one; why can't the bad guys just have a flying Pegasus or something? But no, Morgana has to have a freaking _dragon_!" Gwaine stated.

"So what do we do now?" Percival asked with a frown.

"Well there isn't really much we can do is there? It's not like the horses are just coming back if we call them"

"So we'll walk?" Percival asked.

"So we'll walk." Gwaine confirmed.

They walked in silence for a while, each one in their own thoughts. Percival thought that it was weird that the dragon hadn´t noticed them, and that it hadn't attacked them when it had the chance. It wasn't like Morgana just sent it out so it could exercise, was it? Percival frowned at the thought. Nah, dragons didn't need exercise, or did they? He didn't know. He knew very little about dragons actually and it wasn't that surprising since he lived in a kingdom where magic was forbidden.

From where did this dragon come from anyway? He was pretty sure that Arthur had killed the only dragon that was left and that Merlin had destroyed the dragon egg. But of course, the world was big, and if there had been one dragon egg, why couldn't there be another one? He decided to ask Gwaine.

"Where do you think this dragon comes from?"

"I don't know, mate. I thought that all the dragons were dead, but obviously they aren't. Unless that was some kind of ghost-dragon or zombie-dragon or something"

"D'you think that it was the same dragon that Arthur killed?" Percival asked.

"Once again, I don't know mate, only Arthur and Leon can tell if it was the same dragon. But didn´t Leon say that the dragon that attacked Camelot was golden?"

"Yeah, I think so."

"Do you think that Arthur and Merlin still are alive?" Percival asked. He felt that he asked a lot of things, but he couldn't stop worry about the king and the servant.

"I know they are. Have you any clue of how many times Morgana has tried to kill them and failed? The odds are against her. And Arthur and Merlin always seem to be lucky in this kind of situations." What he didn't say was '_And Merlin's magic will protect them'_

They continued to walk against the big fort they could see behind the trees. They didn't meet the dragon again and before the first sunrays of the day reached the edge of the horizon they were there.

* * *

**Thank you Daybreak96 who reviewed last chapter and thanks everyone else who has reviewed this story I love you all. And Please review this chapter too, take that extra moment to make me happy and be a good person *pleads with puppy eyes***


	11. 11 Shocked confused and horrified

**Well hello again, wonderful readers :) **

**This chapter is one of my absolutley favorites, I think I have rewritten it at least three times. Anyway, I'm going to change the rating to T in this story, because I feel it is going to be a little dark after this. But don't worry, I'm not going to kill anyone, not yet anyway...**

**I would like to send flowers chocolat ánd a great hug to Sword, PseudonymHere, Daybreak96 and MaxR for the wonderful reviews and thank everyone who has favorited and followed this story. I love all of you :) **

**Disclaimer: There aren't really much Merlin left to own *sobs* but I don't :( Anyway, next chapter :)**

* * *

Shocked, confused and horrified

He woke up slowly. As usual by now he didn't know if it was night or day, or how long he had been there. It could have been days or weeks, he had lost count. Five times a guard had brought him water, not a single time food.

Arthur was hungry, so hungry, and thirsty. He wasn't sure if he even could stand up if he tried to, another sign that he wouldn't make it out of this alive. He could feel his ribs, he had probably lost a lot of weight. Now Merlin didn't have to complain about him being fat anyway.

The thoughts of Merlin made him sad, so incredibly sad. He still felt betrayed by his friend, but mostly of all he was worried. Arthur didn't know why Morgana had let him live this long, and even less if Merlin was still alive. But Merlin had magic, and he was a fighter, he wouldn't give up, would he?

Arthur had thought a lot of Merlin and his magic. He had tossed aside the idea of Merlin being evil. That was just ridiculous, it was _Merlin_ for god's sake! The man couldn't hurt a fly, when they were out hunting he often scared the animals away (Though Arthur didn't know if it was intentionally or if he was just incredibly clumsy) and all the times Arthur had been mean to him he could easily have killed him with just a few words, but he hadn't. But what was going to happen next? If they made it out of this alive, should he unban all magic?

He was snapped out of his thoughts by footsteps in the corridor outside. He hoped that it was a guard that would bring him water and food, or even better, someone to save him from this hellhole, but all his hopes vanished when he saw the person who opened the celldoor; Morgana.

She was wearing black (of course she was wearing black, she always wore black, Arthur thought to himself). In her hand she had something shiny and kind of sharpen, it looked like some sort of crystal or something.

"Hello, _dear brother_" She said, her voice filled with sarcasm. She walked so she stood in front of him and held the shiny thing in front of his face. It was most definitely a crystal of some sort. But why had she brought it with her?

"Do you know what this is, dear brother?" She asked and when Arthur shook his head she continued, amused, "This is a crystal from the Crystal Cave, the birthplace of magic itself. You have no idea of how much I had to pay for this. But it was worth every penny, because, _dear brother, _do you know what it does?" Arthur shook his head once again and Morgana smirked. "This very crystal lets me see the past, the present and the future. With this, _dear brother_, I can see anything. But the absolutely best thing about it is its ability to trap things. This can trap magic, feelings _or a human soul_" Arthur looked horrified and Morgana continued, glad (in an evil way) that she had that reaction on the king.

"Right now I'm only using it to see, see anything, but that can always change." She smirked "Do you know what I saw earlier today? Of course you don't. But I am going to tell you, and you are going to suffer. You see, as we speak Emrys and one of the other knights are coming closer and closer to this castle. I saw it, and I now know who Emrys is. He is, as always, trying to save you. But this time I am prepared. You see, I have found out that Emrys is immortal." The king looked truly shocked and Morgana continued "Since he can't die, I can't kill him. So I had to find another way to get rid of him for good. And that is where this crystal comes in to the picture. I will trap Emrys soul in here forever." She smirked evilly, and she must have seen the horror on the king's face, because she continued;

"Ah, dear brother, you must wonder, how do I know that it is Emrys that's coming? Well, I happen to know that you and your useless, irritating manservant have been on a quest and nobody expects you in Camelot just yet. And only a man as powerful as Emrys can possibly know that you and Merlin have been captured and taken here. And when he comes I will trap him in my crystal, and then nobody will protect Camelot or you, and I can take over, unban magic and live happily ever after. And all with magic will be free, but those without, will not be so lucky." She laughed evilly. Then she left the king, shocked, confused and horrified.

He was shocked because she had said that Emrys would never die, that he was immortal. Arthur was pretty sure that it was impossible to be immortal, and he wondered how Morgana had come to that conclusion. But the witch was crazy, so he didn't believe her. But still, even if she was crazy, from where the hell had she gotten that idea?

He was confused because…What the hell had she been talking about? Merlin wasn't on his way to save Arthur, he was in another dungeon, Morgana said it herself. But yet she had said that Emrys was on his way to them as they spoke. Then it hit him (though he would never admit it, he could be kind of slow sometimes), she thought that someone else was Emrys. Obviously one of his knights since she had said 'Emrys and another knight'. Arthur wondered who were coming to save him. And Morgana had a point. How did they know that he and Merlin had been captured and kept here? Did some of his knights have magic too? Arthur wondered how he could be so oblivious.

And he was horrified for what she was going to do to one of his knights. Morgana was crazy, and it was horrific that somebody so twisted could be so powerful. He could understand why magic was banned. Magic corrupted people, twisted them, made them dark. Merlin seemed to be so nice, but once Morgana had been too, and probably it was only a question of time before also Merlin would turn evil and stab him in the back. But, a little voice in his head whispered, Agravaine had turned against him, and he had no magic. And many of the sorcerers that had tried to kill him or destroy Camelot had just been seeking revenge for what his father had done. Maybe magic wasn't evil after all. Power corrupts, and magic is just another way to that.

Arthur made a choice. He wasn't going to kill anyone for being something they couldn't help. But, there were going to be strict laws, at least to a start. He sighted, he hoped he was making the right decision.

Hours later the sound of a key in the keyhole in the door made him come back to reality. Four guards walked into the room, unlocking his chains and binding his hands at his back instead. As they jerked him up he found it hard to stand, feeling dizzy because of the little food he'd had. He wondered if they were going to kill him as they walked out the door.

* * *

**Well, that was that, hope you liked it and I really tried to keep both Arthur and Morgana in character, not sure if I succeded...Please tell me what you think and be back for next chapter if not for me than for really sarcastic Gwaine :) I love sarcastic Gwaine ;)**


	12. 12 My loyalty lies with my brother

**Hello :)**

**I just want you to know that I have been having a really tough week. First I was listening to this guy who had been a capture in Auswich during world war two and it was incredibly sad to listen to. He was 90 years! But anyway, I was also almost thrown of a horse and had a bitch of a test in shool. **

**Anyway, here are your chapter :) Hope you enjoy it. And I still don't own Merlin.**

* * *

**My loyalty lies with my brother**

"We need a plan" Percival said with a frown.

"What? Phsss…No. I think we should just walk in, ask Morgana nicely if we can take the Princess and Merlin back to Camelot and then ride away in the sunset on our pink unicorns." Gwaine said sarcastic.

"Gwaine, you are so _not_ helping" Percival said.

Gwaine just gave Percival a look of 'you don't say?' over his shoulder.

Percival started to think that this really hadn't been a good idea at all. They had no idea how to get into the fort, no maps over the castle or the ground around it. They had no plan what so ever either. Yep, the more he thought about it the stupider it sounded. They shouldn't have rushed in to this, they should have taken some time and done some research. But he knew Gwaine. Gwaine always rushed in to things. He sighted, this was not going to be easy.

-oOo-

He followed every movement they did and heard every word they said. His icy blue eyes filled to the brink with hatred as his eyes fell on one of the two travelers. He looked scarily much like Morgana had described him, even the clothes was right. He wondered how the witch had known, but it didn't really matter, because soon the two travelers would walk into the trap. Not that it would kill them, but it would distract them enough to be captured and then Morgana could rule over Camelot, unban magic and Emrys would suffer like he had suffered. Emrys was a traitor, ha helped the king and the king had killed his sister. Emrys deserved every bit of what was comming for him.

-oOo-

"Shh, what was that?" Gwaine asked, interrupting Percival's talk and drawing his sword. The big knight immediately did the same. The both men were now on their guard. Only seconds later there were a swishing sound and Gwaine threw himself over Percival, knocking the bigger knight to the ground. There were a quiet 'poff' when the arrows hit the ground instead of the knights they were meant for. Percival could be lucky for Gwaine's reflexes.

But the danger was far from over. Seconds later they heard screams and looked up only to see about twenty men running towards them with their swords drawn. The both knights immediately rose, swords in hands and as the men came closer they were ready.

The fight was intense, but short. Gwaine succeeded to kill one and hurt three, but he couldn't fight three or four men at the same time. Percival succeeded to kill tree and hurt two, but even a giant like him couldn't fight them all and after a few moments the fight was over and the knights found their hands bound behind their backs and their swords taken away from them.

"So _Emrys,_ we finally meet" A man stepped forward."You are the one that did nothing when the king killed my sister, and now you are trying to _rescue_ your beloved king. You are nothing more than a traitor to your people and a traitor to this land!" The man shouted. His blonde hair was greasy and uncombed, his clothes worn and cheap looking, holes on his knees and in his tunic. He looked to be around thirty years old and it was obvious that he was the leader of the group.

But the most outstanding in the man's appearance was his eyes. They were icy blue, like the sky a cold winter day, pale and watery. And the hate. The eyes sent out so much hate when they fell on the dark haired knight. Gwaine wondered how this man could hate him so much when they had never even met. Maybe Gwaine owed him money because he seriously had no idea of what the bloke was talking about.

"Do I know you?" Gwaine asked.

"No, _Emrys,_ we don't know each other personally. Yet. But we will, believe me, we will" The man smiled evilly.

"Who is this Emrys you are babbling about?" Percival asked, looking up at the leader.

"Oh, so he haven't told you? This will be fun. You see, your friend here is actually Emrys, _the mightiest sorcerer ever to walk the earth_" The man said with sarcasm filling his voice.

Percival looked utterly confused and the man continued;

"So you are a slow one, huh? I'll tell you what, your friend here is a sorcerer, he. Has. magic. And all these years he has lied to you." The man smirked, looking a bit too much like Morgana for it to be a coincidence. Probably he worked for said witch.

Percival didn't believe him the slightest. He had known Gwaine for a long time now, and the man had saved his life many times, and now a random stranger came and said he was a sorcerer? Why should Percival believe him?

Even though it made sense, a little voice whispered in his head. All the times when they had been so very lucky, defeated the enemy against all odds. The big man had always thought that it had been just luck, but maybe it had been something else? He pushed these thoughts aside, no, Gwaine couldn't have magic, and he wouldn't believe a random stranger who just attacked them over one of his best friends and knight brother.

Gwaine had really no idea of what the man was talking about, only that he thought that he was this Emrys guy who was an almighty sorcerer that the leader guy hated. But as far as Gwaine knew he wasn't a sorcerer, but he wished he was. That would have been so awsome.

But d'you know what would have been better? Ale. Why could the baddies never just try to drug them by making them drink a large amount of ale? He really wanted some right now.

But instead of giving them ale this leader guy made a sign to his companions and they grabbed Percival and Gwaine, making them stand up and walk, towards the tower. Gwaine thought that now they at least didn't need to figure out how to get inside the fort.

* * *

**Please review, I have been having a tough week and you can sheer me up :) But anyway, I think I will update next Thursday again :)Thanks so much to loubega, Daybreak96 and Moon Fox for reviewing, you are all awsome. And thanx to all that has favorited and followed this story, I love you all :3**


	13. 13 Now all the guests are here

**Here you have another chapter, lovley reader :)**

**I think I will update this story once a week, on Thursdays, and maybe on the weekends sometimes. :)**

**Disclaimer: Nope...Read all the other chapters and you'll see exactly how much I own Merlin XP**

* * *

Now all the guests are here

Merlin was woken up by the footsteps. He opened his eyes slightly just in time to see the two guards that unlocked the wooden door to the dungeon and walked towards him. As the guards unlocked the chains around his wrists he didn't struggle against, and when they jerked him up he just followed. You had to choose your battles, and if he knocked the guards off, or killed them, it wouldn't really matter.

Yes, he would be free, but then he had to go find Arthur, probably defeat a whole army to get them out and then flee. He didn't really find it a problem, he could do that, but there were one person he couldn't defeat so easy.

If he was going to defeat Morgana he had to be strong. He had no doubt that he could defeat her, but it was not going to be easy. And as if that wasn't enough he didn't know what state Arthur was in. As for what he knew the king could have been tortured half to death by the evil witch.

He had to figure out a way to get out of here, but he had to wait for the right opportunity and choose his battles. And right now, he would have to play his role as the scared servant and follow these men wherever they were taking him.

They walked through corridors, up some stairs and down others. And for all Merlin could see the whole fort was built of the dark, wet stone. He wondered how anyone could live in such a depressing, dark place. He could feel that something had happened there, long time ago, it was a place of dark magic.

As they turned into another dark corridor he wondered why he hadn't felt this dark magic before. It wasn't Morganas, he was sure of that, but something else. It was old, and it was like it had grown into the stone, imbued the whole building. He felt a shiver run down his spine. Whatever had happened here it was something terrible. He wondered if Morgana could feel it too.

He was snapped out of his thoughts when they came to a big wooden door, like the one to the big council chambers back in Camelot, but this one was darker and from inside Merlin could feel the dark and twisted magic of Morgana.

'Another audition with the evil witch then' he thought.

One of the guards knocked on the door and it was opened from the inside by another guard. Merlin had been correct, Morgana was sitting on a throne of black stone (which probably was highly uncomfortable, Merlin wondered why she sat on that, it was rather stupid).

But as Merlin's gaze wandered around the room he got far more important things to think about then what Morgana was sitting on. Because, chained up against the wall was Arthur. And he was in a horrifying state. He was skinnier than ever before, his hair was almost brown because of all the dirt in it, and he had dried blood on his forhead. He looked like he wasn't aware of the things happening around him. It made Merlin so angry to his king in this state.

"Ah, Merlin, how kind of you to join us today" Morgana said sarcastic. Then she looked at the guards and said, in a total different tone:  
"Chain him up next to the other one." The guards did as they were told and Merlin found himself chained against the wall. He could see relief in Arthurs face, and he realized that the king hadn't known if he was dead or alive and that he was more aware of the things around him than Merlin gave him had given him credit for. Arthur was going to say something, but it was nothing more than a muffled sound through the gag. Merlin soon enough got a gag of his own.

Morgana walked up next to them, staring with hatred in her eyes at them. She was going to say something, but was interrupted by a loud knock on the door.

"Oh, now all the guests are here" She smirked and shouted "Guards, open the door!"

-oOo-

After they were defeated and bound they were taken to Fort Ödslighet. Gwaine was almost sure that it was Morgana who waited for them in the fort. Not only that the dragon had flown over them a couple of more times, the way the leader guy talked and behaved reminded of Morgana way too much for it to be a coincidence.

They were taken through the port and through endless of corridors, all black, wet and cold. Gwaine wondered how anyone could live there, it had this creepy feeling written all over the place. He also wondered if it was only he and Percival, who both knew the legend, who could feel it, or if the guards could too. If they could, they didn't show any signs of it anyway.

They stopped by a big dark wooden door, and one of the guards knocked on it.

They heard a "Guards open the door" from the inside, and even if the words were as normal as ever, they sent a shiver down Gwaine's spine. It wasn't the words themselves, it was the voice who spoke them he feared.

The room was big, and of course black, cold and wet, as everything else in the fort. There were some guards next to the door, and some others standing by the walls. At the opposite wall from them Morgana was sitting on a throne of stone (which looked highly uncomfortable), smirking and glaring at them with hate in her eyes. But the sight that took Gwaine aback the most was that on the side of Morganas throne was two prisoners, bound with chains against the wall and gagged. They looked highly familiar, but it took a while to figure out that it was Merlin and Arthur.

Merlin was the one who looked mostly like himself, and he was the one Gwaine recognized first. He was dirty, his clothes were nothing but rags, and he was skinnier than ever before. But he still looked like Merlin.

Arthur on the other hand, who never had been skinny in the way his manservant was, was nothing but skin and bones, and he looked almost like he was half asleep. He was also dirty, he had dried blood on his forehead and on one of his cheeks, and endless of small scars. His hair was so dirty that it could be taken for brown if you didn't look close. Gwaine was horrified by the state his king was in.

"And now all are here, so delightful of you to join us, Sir Percival and Sir Gwaine. Or should I call you Emrys?" Morgana said with an evil smirk, sitting on her throne.

Gwaine wondered if he was the only one who saw Merlin look up when Morgana mentioned the name Emrys, like he was used to be called that. Then he saw that Morgana was talking to Gwaine, and his face expression turned desperate.

Also Arthur looked up, but instead of desperation in his eyes Gwaine could see horror beyond understanding. He wondered if the king looked so horrified because he thought Gwaine had magic. If so was the case, it was not a good sign for Merlin if they made it out of this alive.

And of course, everybody thought_ he_ was Emrys. It was his ordinary luck. Get blamed for being a sorcerer, but not have all the cool powers. He only got the downside of it. And he was pretty sure that Merlin was this Emrys guy everybody was talking about.

Morganas words snapped him back to reality.

" So, I see you have met my other guests." She said with sarcasm and looked towards the king and the servant a.k.a sorcerer. "Guards, please chain Sir Percival up next to my brother and his annoying manservant, and put Emrys in the magic-secure chains on the other wall!"

Gwaine wondered what was going to happen to him as he was taken to the other wall and chained by the guards.

* * *

**Thanks so much to Moon fox, Daybreak96 and MaxR, you are wonderful :)**

**Well that was pretty much all I had to say, please review, take that little extra moment to make me happy *pleads with puppy eyes* **


	14. 14 And the little dragon spoke

**I actually made it, new chapter (yaaaay)! **

**Anyway, next chapter on Thursday I think, if I'm done with it by then :)**

**Disclaimer: I own Merlin as much as I own the golden chain around my neck...oh wait a moment, I don't have a golden chain :O**

* * *

And the little dragon spoke

Aithusa had been out hunting. She had eaten a deer and was now happy and feed up. She had been flying around a bit just for fun, like little dragons like to do, when she heard a low sound from the forest underneath her.

Curious as she was Aithusa landed in a glade, from which she had heard the sound. Not that any human would have heard it, but she was a dragon, and dragons had really good hearing, better than a human could ever dream of.

Aithusa looked around, there wasn't really much to see in the glade. Some dead yellow grass, a little creek, green trees surrounding it, with birds singing in them.

She heard the silent little noise again, and when she turned around she saw a little kitten, grey and with big blue eyes, as cute as only a kitten can be. There was no signs of other cats, the little kitten had probably gotten lost in the forest while playing some game, and probably wouldn't survive for long without its mum.

The white dragon was just going to fly away again, now when she knew what had made the sound, when the little kitten came towards her, making funny little noises. Something inside Aithusa melted at the sight of the little kitten, is reminded her of herself in the beginning.

She had been all by herself, lost and alone in the dark until she had found her mistress. But sometimes she still felt alone, wanting somebody of her own kind to be with. And she thought the kitten might want the same. It probably longed for its mother.

So Aithusa made a decision. She could not search through the whole forest and all the land for the little kittens' mother, but she hadn't the heart to live it. So, she took it with her in her claws, eager to show her mistress what she had found. She headed for the fort where her mistress lived with the terrified kitten in her claws.

Aithusa had never liked the fort, and she used to live in the forest around it instead. She never understood why her mistress liked it so much, because like all dragons she had a very sensitive nose for magic, and something bad had happened in that castle.

But as for now, she was eager to show her mistress what she had found, she was sure that her mistress was going to like the kitten as much as Aithusa did.

All the way to the fort the kitten made terrified noises and squirmed. Aithusa really wanted the little kitten to know that everything was okay, that nothing bad was going to she told the kitten so, with her mind. Aithusa had had no idea that she was able to do so, until she just did. It was like a knowledge she had suppressed deep inside her, an instinct she hadn't listened to before.

She found her new ability fascination and wondered if she could use it on humans and on her mistress. She had to try when she arrived.

She was so exalted by her new ability that she had almost forgotten the little kitten in her claws as she reached the black fort.

-oOo-

_"Morgana"_ The whisper was low and hesitantly. Merlins head jerked up, as did Morganas. The other in the room didn't seem to notice at all.

Merlin didn't know if he should cry or laugh, because that voice he could have recognized anywhere, even if he had never heard it before. It woke up so strong feelings inside him that he didn't know what to do, and for a minute he was lost.

He felt happiness and sorrow and pride. He felt happiness because the dragon could talk! She could talk and he was happy and proud over her, like every parent would have been. But he felt sorrow because of the word she had said, over that she was an ally with the witch. The little sweet thing _he _had hatched, spoke the name of his enemy.

Morgana looked around the room, looking for the voice. Apparently she could hear the dragon talk, but she could not know that it was Aithusa, Merlin thought when he saw her face expression. She looked utterly confused.

"What was that? What was that?!" She screamed, madness and fear shining through her eyes. "Did you do this Emrys?!" She turned to look at Gwaine, who looked confused and a little defiant.

_"Don't fear mistress, it's just me" _The dragon said. Merlin wondered where the dragon was as Morganas face expression changed. She looked almost like she was going to cry out of happiness.

Merlin looked around the room, everybody else looked at Morgana like she had finally lost it completely, even the guards did as Morgana started to run towards the doors, but then she remembered the prisoners and that she had some dignity and started to walk quickly instead.

She mumbled something that sounded like "Guard the prisoners, do not let them escape!" And with those words she left to go and see her beloved dragon.

"Aithusa!" Morgana cried out as she walked up the last stairs and stood on the roof of the fort. The stone was cold and black, and the wind whipped her hair like it tried to tell her to leave, to stop trespassing on the roof where nobody had been for so long. Morgana didn't care, because she only had eyes for her little beloved dragon.

The white dragon landed gracefully on the roof, standing on one leg as she held the kitten in the other.

_"Look what I found, mistress" _The little dragon said, her voice like the one of a five year old human child. She carefully putted down the little kitten on the cold and flat roof.

"You…you can talk!" Morgana exclaimed in astonishment. "H…how?"

"_I found this kitten, and when I flew with it wouldn't be still so I told it so" _Aithusa said happily. "_And then I realized that I could talk to you too" _

"And I have great news, dear Aithusa, I have captured Emrys, and soon Camelot will be ours."

Aithusa shrank by the mentioning of the name Emrys, scared and feed with lies concerning the name. Morgana noticed this and said;

"Don't worry, my dear girl, I have found a way to disarm and trap Emrys forever, and you will never have to be scared again."

As Morgana kept comforting Aithusa they had both forgot the little kitten, who, in the second the dragon released her grip on it, had started to run down the stairs, and were now hiding in a dark corner near the room where the captives were held. Things were soon going to change very quickly for the little kitten.

* * *

**Well, hehe, sorry for the Aithusa-sentric chapter, but I love that little dragon. And the kitten is really important to the plot, feel free to guess what I will do to it later in the reviews :) **

**Anyway, see you on next update then, good bye :)**


	15. 15 Just find the sword alright!

**Hello, remember me? Sorry I didn't update sooner, but I've been sick. Doesn't really have much more to say...Thanks for the reviews everybody, and I still don't own Merlin...Here you have the chapter :)**

* * *

Just find the sword alright?!

Morgana couldn't have given Merlin a better opportunity to escape when she walked out of the room to meet with Aithusa. Merlin didn't blame her though, he would probably have done the same in her situation.

The first thing he did was to take away the gag. A golden flash with his eyes, just for a second, and he was free. The next step was the guards, who were much more attentive then the guards of Camelot. They were starting to walk towards him, as they saw that he had somheow gotten rid of his gag.

Merlin sighted, of course the witch had better guards than them, _everybody _had better guards than them. He took a little while to figure out how to get rid of the guards as they were approaching him before he remembered that Arthur knew about his secret.

Gwaine and Percival did not, however, but that was for later. The guards didn't have an idea either, which was unlucky for them when Merlin, still without speaking, knocked all the guards in the room out by throwing them against the stone wall with a silent spell. He had performed that spell so many times that he simply didn't need words anymore.

As the gold in his eyes begun to fade he realized that all of his friends was staring at him with different face expressions. Percival looked shocked and almost scared, which was a weird feeling to see in the giants face because he almost never looked scared. Merlin felt sad that one of his friends was scared of him. He didn't choose this!

Gwaine looked awed and had a glint of recognition in his eyes, just for a moment. Merlin wasn't sure if he had seen it right, but then he thought that Gwaine probably had figured it out, due to the message Merlin had sent him.

Arthur looked tired, so tired that he wasn't aware of what was happening in the room around him. The king looked like he was about to faint at any moment. Merlin quickly uttered a spell that made his chains crack and once he was free he walked over and did the same to a shocked Percival.

"You…you have magic!" he said, surprise and suspicion in his voice.

"Yes, and right now isn't the right time for you to chop my head off. You don't have a sword, and you have to trust me to get out of here. Just help me with Arthur, okay?" Percival was slightly shocked by the tone of the manservants voice. It held a demanding tone that he had never heard of before from the quite clumsy brunette, and it also sounded so desperate that Percival decided to help him first and take all the other things later.

"What about Morgana?" Percival asked as Merlin started to cast the spell at Arthurs chains, "What if she returns?"

"Morgana is talking to her dragon, she won't return yet" Merlin said, because even though he couldn't hear Morgana he could still hear every word the white dragon spoke. Probably Aithusa hadn't learnt to talk to only one person and her words were heard by everyone that could listen. This happened to be him and Morgana. It pained him that it was Morgana and not him the dragon talked to, that the dragon called _her_ mistress even if she had no right, he was the dragon lord and the one who hatched the egg!

Percival was just going to say something like "How do you know?" when Arthurs chains cracked and he got other things to think of. The king could barely stand, and he had to rely on Percival to do so.

It was when Merlin came to Gwaine that things got complicated.

"Gwaine! I am so sorry for this, but these chains…they are forged to withstand all types of magic, and I can't get you out of them!" Merlin looked at Gwaine with such remorse and guilt in his eyes. "There need to be a way to get you out of here! I am so sorry, so sorry, I should never had…"

"You'll find a way to get me out of here, I know you will Merlin…or should I call you Emrys?" Gwaine said with a small smirk. Merlin was close to tears, he knew he didn't have much time left and he refused to leave Gwaine behind, after all, the man had actually come to save them. "Think Merlin, Think!" He thought to himself "What can cut through magic chains? What can cut through anything?"... Of course, Arthurs sword! Merlin mentaly facepalmed himself for not thinking about this earlier.

"Arthur, where is your sword?" Merlin asked the half conscious king.

"I…I dunno…" Arthur mumbled. Percival and Gwaine looked confused.

"We need to find Arthurs sword, it is the only thing that can cut through these chains" Merlin explained and run a hand through his hair in frustration.

"Wait a minute, if you really are an all-powerful sorcerer, can't you just, I dunno, say some magical words and then the sword will appear of something? Or at least like…feel where the sword is?" Gwaine asked Merlin.

"No…_I _can't do that" He said and turned to the king "But _you_ can Arthur!"

Percival looked doubting at the warlock and then at the king and then at the warlock again like he had gone mad.

"Look Arthur, I know that you are exhausted, but only you can find your sword. It is bound to you by ancient magic since you pulled it out of the stone. If you just concentrate you'll be able to feel the magic, let it guide you to where the sword is."

"I…I dunno if I can do it…" Arthur stuttered.

Then Merlin did something he would probably regret later.

"Bydd fy ynni fod yn ei" He whispered, his eyes glowing gold. He could feel his energy leave his body and flow into Arthurs. By every second he got weaker he could see Arthur grow stronger. He had already been tired, because of the spells he had used and the days without food (even though he had gotten some food, it hadn't been much).

"You…you need to find the sword…." Now it was Merlin who stuttered, weakened because of the lack of energy.

"Go…go you, I'll be fine" He said.

"Merlin, exactly _what_ did you just do?" Arthur said, standing up straight now.

"I…I…gave you some of my energy so you can go looking for the sword, cut…cut Gwaines chains and escape." He said, every word painful to utter.

"You stupid…then who will face Morgana, or what if the guards wake up again? How did you _think _there Merlin?!"

"You don't…don't have time. Just find the sword, okay…just find the sword"

"I'm not leaving you in this state Merlin!"

"Arthur, Morgana can come any minute, just go, find the sword, cut me free and do it NOW!" Gwaine interrupted, and with a last glare at Merlin the king and Percival left.

Left behind was Merlin, sitting on the floor, close to fainting because the lack of energy and magic, and Gwaine who was still stuck in the chains against the minutes later Morgana entered the room again.

* * *

**:O The plot is finally starting to come together, sorry for the cliffhanger :/ **

**Anyway, see you at next update, and don't forget to review and tell me what you think will come up next...will Arthur and Percival find the sword? **

**Me:"Hehehe, only I know..."*Smirks evilly like Morgana* **

**Readers: "Help! the author has gone insane! She has joined the Smirking evils of doom-club" **

**Me:"There is nothing you can do to stop me, except reviewing, reviews are my cryptonite" **

**Me:*facepalms* "I really shouldn't had said that...**


	16. 16 Trapped

Here is the next chapter :)

I haven't had any internet this whole week and I thought I was going to die out of boredom. Turns out that I am quite good at painting and playing flute XP This also means that I have written some more chapters and will update on...I think Thuesday will do ;)

Disclaimer: Have never owned Merlin, never will *sob*

* * *

Trapped

"We can't go that way, there's a wall there!" Percival exclaimed.

"But I can feel it, it is on the other side of this wall!" It was true, what Merlin had said. Arthur could actually _feel_ the sword, and it made him feel uncomfortable. Even if he now knew that all magic wasn't evil he didn't like the thought.

But like it was now, he didn't have much of a choice, he had to find the sword and cut off Gwaines chains. He didn't know why his sword was the only thing that could do it, but probably Merlin, that idiot, had done something with it. And give him all his energy, how stupid wasn't that! Now Merlin couldn't defend himself and Gwaine if Morgana came back. Arthur tried not to think about it.

They had walked through endless of corridors, all black and wet and cold. All they had to rely on was Arthur's instinct, that feeling somewhere inside that told him which way to go. It was weird, it wasn't like a bond or anything, just small, small, almost like a whisper in his head, and he had to listen really careful.

And now they had come to a dead end.

"Well, we'll have to turn around and find another way then." Arthur said. But just when they were about to do so they could hear footsteps. Coming towards them. They had to do something quick, or else they would be caught. And that could not happen, they were Merlin and Gwaines only hope.

Arthur looked around the corridor, and so did Percival. There was no place to hide at all, only black stonewalls. They started to slowly back closer and closer to the wall at the end of the corridor, totally focused on the walker. Whoever it was was soon going to turn around a corner and see them, and as long as it wasn't Gwaine and Merlin that had somehow miraculously escaped on their own and was now walking around the castle, they would have to fight the walker.

It was at least only one person, judging by the footsteps. Hopefully Morgana hadn't realized they had escaped just yet and the person was off guard. They had no weapons, but they could still surprise the walker, and surprise was a big advantage. They were at the end of the corridor now, so close to the wall that their backs almost touched it.

They both jumped high when a cat came running past them. It was surprising enough that there were a cat in the fort, Morgana didn't seem like the person who would have a cat, but that wasn't why they were so surprised. _The cat had just run out of the wall! _

As the cat run away around the corner, the opposite of where the footsteps were heard from, Arthur and Percival started to check the wall behind them. The cat had come running towards them from somewhere, and as they couldn't see a door it must be hidden somewhere. But when their hands touched where the wall appeared to be they felt nothing but thin air. Both the knight and the king withdraw their hands.

"That was… odd" Arthur whispered, since there were still footsteps coming towards them, the walker was close now.

"Do you think…we can walk through and hide?" Percival asked with a frown. He really wasn't comfortable with all this magic business. He didn't quite know how to react to Merlins magic, but both Arthur and Gwaine had seemed okay with it, so he decided that it couldn't be that bad. He would have to think about this more later.

"There's only one way to find out, even if it means that we walk from bad to worse. I don't think we have a chance right now, and my sword is on the other side, I can feel it." Without any more words the king drew a deep breath and disappeared through the wall. Percival did the same seconds later.

It was like walking through a thick fog. It was one of the weirdest things Percival had experienced and he thought that this was how ghosts must feel like. He did not want to become a ghost.

Arthur was already standing on the other side looking around, and Percival started to do the same. It was a surprisingly little room, four walls made of the black stone the rest of the castle was made of.

It must have been some sort of armory room, because every inch of the walls were covered with spears, shields and swords. It took Arthur around three seconds to find his sword, it was almost eerily Percival thought to himself.

He didn't like magic much, he never had. But he had never believed that magic was evil, it depended on the wielder. But unfortunately, most of the wielders were evil. Or, at least, the evil ones where the ones they had met the most, it didn't mean that the lot who used magic was evil. There was a strange comfort in that thought.

Arthur had already found his sword, but Percival needed a sword too. He looked around and saw a decent sword hanging on the wall. It wasn't the beautiful thing that Arthur had, but Percival didn't need that, he didn't even want it. All he wanted was a plain sword that he could fight with.

When he touched the sword he could instantly feel that this sword was absolutely right for him. It was even better than his old one, it felt like an extension of his arm. With this sword he could fight his enemies.

He smiled at Arthur, sword in hand, and Arthur smiled back. They both felt better now when they had their weapons. Percival just hoped that it wasn't too late, that they would be able to free Merlin and Gwaine, and then escape from this cursed place.

Percival turned around to walk out of the room, though it felt a little bit strange to attempt to walk in to a wall. But when he touched the wall with his hands they met solid stone. He tried again, on another place this time.

The king joined the knight, and even though they must have looked pathetic when they stood there, both pounding the wall more and more desperate. But after a while Percival gave up and sank down to the floor. Arthur gave up a few moments later, starting to pace back and forth in the little room, looking furious.

"What are we gonna do sire?" Percival asked, his hands covering his face in a hopeless position.

"Well does it look like I know?!" Arthur snapped back. Then he calmed himself down a little and said "I'm sorry, Percival, I really didn't mean to snap at you. I just…this whole situation is just…"he said with despair in his voice as he sat down next to Percival.

"What are we going to do? Every moment we spend in here Gwaine and Merlin can be dying for Morganas hand out there. And Merlin… he trusted me with his life, and I failed him" Arthur said, tears running down his cheeks.

"You are not angry about this…you know…with Merlin…" Percival took it slowly, unsure of how to approach the king since he thought it might be a touchy subject.

"Well first I was, but then, well I thought about it and Merlin has had more than his share of chances to destroy and take over Camelot, but he has always been at my side, even when I treated him really bad. He trusts me, and now I have let him down" Arthur answered, his tears still running down his cheeks.

"Arthur, you are one of the best friends a man can have, and you have NOT let Merlin down. Do you hear me? It is not to late okay? We are gonna get out of here and rescue them." Arthur looked up at Percival, surprised by the man's words. Percival had never been much of a speaker.

"Did you know that Gwaine had magic too?" Percival asked after a while of silence.

"He has?" Arthur answered surprised.

"Yeah, both Morgana and the man that captured us have been talking about nothing but Emrys here and Emrys there."

"But they've got it wrong" There was a hint of a smirk in the kings voice, "Merlin is Emrys, it is his druid name or something, I don't exactly know because I didn't listen very well when he told me, I was…occupied with other thoughts" Arthur said, sounding a bit embarrassed. Percival wondered what had happened, but he was tactful enough to not ask.

"So Gwaine doesn't have magic then?" Percival asked, wanting to be on the safe side.

"No, not as I know, but he could have because Morgana has a point, how did you find us when nobody expected us back or could possibly know that we were captured by her?"

"I don't know. I was at the tavern when Gwaine came in and practically dragged me out, telling me we had to go on a secret mission to save you." They sat in silence, each in their own thoughts.

"So how is it back in Camelot?" Arthur asked after a while.

"Well, it is like it always is, I guess." Percival answered.

"How's Gwen? Have there been any attacks?"

"Gwen's fine, as good as ever. No attacks as far as I know." When Arthur heard that he sighted in relief. The kingdom was safe, ruled by his beloved queen. Even though their own situation was a hell and Merlin and Gwaine could be killed by Morgana as they spoke it was truly a relief that his kingdom was safe for the moment. Now they just had to find a way out of there.

* * *

This chapter was kind of painful to write, but now it is done :) Thanx so much to Moon Fox, MaxR and Daybreak96 for your continued support, you guys are the best! And also thanks to Eventyraren for your wonderful review, hope to see more from you ;)

And ofc, thanks all that reads this story, love you all *heart*


	17. 17 Some are more oblivious than Arthur

**I am so, so, so incredebly sorry for not updating. But my internet broke down (again). I hate those stupid internet guys! Was here and fixed it, and then it broke again! Anyway, I've atleast had time to write and thats why you guys are gonna get two long chapters. Yaaaaay, always something :) **

**Disclaimer: don't own Merlin**

* * *

Some are more oblivious than Arthur

When Morgana walked into the throne room the scene that faced her was _not_ the one she had expected. What she had expected was her brother, his knight and his manservant chained against the wall, Emrys chained against the other and the guards standing in positions against the walls, guarding.

The scene that actually faced her was a bit different. All of the guards lay unconscious on the floor. She looked around and realized that her brother, Percival and Merlin had escaped from the chains. This sight filled her with rage, but also horror, how had they managed to do this?

She looked at Emrys and sighted in relief when she realized that he was still there. And on the floor was an unconscious Merlin.

In Morganas head there were a million questions. How had they managed to crack the chains open? How had they knocked out all the guards? Why hadn't Emrys also escaped? Why was Merlin unconscious on the floor? Was it Emrys that had practiced magic to get them free? But that was impossible, the chains where made to stand against all types of magic!

Maybe Merlin had magic too, and had managed to release the others, but because of the anti-magic chains Emrys had he hadn't managed to break them and had used all his power and then fainted.

But then Morgana realized how stupid that was. _Merlin _couldn't have magic, it was Merlin for god's sake. She would have noticed if the man had magic, surely she would have. Nah, it must have been Emrys who somehow managed to use magic even if the chains were magic prof and Merlin was just too weak to flee. Even if the man had been a nail in the eye too her, he wasn't a fighter and he was so skinny that the thought seemed to be more logical than the magic theory.

Morgana almost laughed when she thought about Merlin having magic. What a hilarious thought. But then she remembered that her brother and his knight still had escaped.

With raw rage and madness shining through her eyes she walked over to Emrys and grabbed a hold of his jaw. Her face was only inches from his when she whispered, dangerously low:

"Where are my brother and his knight, Emrys?"

"Hmm, they thought it was a little bit boring here, so they went to join a party back in Camelot instead." Gwaine had barley finished the sentence before Morganas hand had hit him in the face, so hard that it made his eyes involuntarily tear.

"This is not a joke Emrys, YOU WILL TELL ME WHERE THEY ARE!" She screamed, totally furious. She didn't even get the idea to try to wake up one of the guards and ask him what had happened. She was so focused on Emrys in her rage and madness.

Gwaine didn't know what he was supposed to do, if he could just ride out the storm maybe he could give Arthur and Percival enough time to find the sword.

"I said…they went back to Camelot." Gwaine said, looking in to Morganas furious eyes.

She turned around and shouted;

"Guards!" Not long after that the man who had captured them came through the door with some of his fellow mercenaries.

"Alcyr, guard Emrys and the king's servant on the floor." She nodded in Gwaine and Merlin's direction. "You may do whatever you like with them as long as they are alive when I come back. The rest of you, FIND THE KING AND HIS KNIGHT!" Morgana had barley finished the sentence before all the mercenaries from the woods was out the door, searching for Arthur and his knight. Morgana said something to the leader guy, Alcyr, in a low voice and then left. Gwaine thought he heard the word dragon but he sincerely hoped that he had heard wrong.

When Morgana left Alcyr smiled a wicked smile and glared at Merlin before he walked forward to Gwaine.

"Hello, Emrys." He said and smiled. "Do you remember me? I surely remember you."

"What do you want of me?" Gwaine stared at the man in front of him.

"Well, I want revenge!" The man said and _giggled_, his eyes sparkling. Gwaine thought that there was something terribly wrong with this man, he looked just like a little kid on Christmas day in the way he looked at Gwaine.

"You see, I once had a sister. She was engaged with a man, but he cheated on her and when she refused to take him back he accused her of sorcery. The king killed her, all when you, our supposed savior, stood there and looked in the opposite direction." There was no longer anything childish in Alcyrs voice.

"So now I'm going to finally get my revenge, I'm going to torture the manservant like you let the king torture my sister." Once again he giggled, a terrible sound that made Gwaine squirm in the chains.

"Guards!" Alcyr shouted when he realized the guards that had been thrown into the wall earlier had started to wake up. A few of them rose and there were some curses when they started to walk on unsteady legs towards Alcyr.

"Please put the man back in his chains again, I have no idea how he escaped, but just put him back."

"Um Sir, you are aware of the fact that he can use m…" One of the guards tried to say, but he didn't have the chance to finish the sentence before Alcyr cut him off.

"Silence please! I'm trying to figure out how he escaped!" Gwaine wondered how stupid the Alcyr guy actually was, the soldier was trying to say that Merlin had magic and Alcyr had cut him off! How _stupid_ wasn't that?!

"But sir…" The guard got no longer before Alcyr had drawn his sword and then he drove it into the guard. There was a sigh when the air left the body and the guard fell to the floor, dead before the body hit the stone.

Gwaine was shocked by the sudden and unneeded use of violence, and at the same time he _really_ wanted to facepalm because…gah! It was so annoying, and he hated that the guard had just been trying to do his duty, to protect his lord from a potentially dangerous sorcerer, and Alcyr had _killed_ him! How dared he?!

This was why Gwaine was a knight, he thought in rage, because of all the horrible people that was out there, all the horrible people that he wanted to stop. He wanted to fight for a more just world, a better place to live in. Even though he would never admit it, that was why he had become a knight of the round table. He wanted to fight guys like Alcyr, men who killed when there were no need to.

"And let that be a lesson to all of you!" Alcyr said, oblivious to the really important information he had just missed.

The remaining guards looked shocked, but they had learned the lesson and were quiet. Gwaine thanked every god he knew for that. The guards lifted up the unconscious Merlin and attached his arms to the chains once again.

Alcyr smiled a wicked smile towards Gwaine before he walked up to Merlin and said in a sweet faked baby voice:

"Time to wake up now, sleeping beauty." When Merlin didn't respond to that Alcyr brutally punched Merlin in the face. Merlin opened his eyes with a jolt and a whimper of pain. His eyes darted quickly around the room. They rested for a while on Gwaine, remorse shining from them, and then they continued to the guard on the floor.

Merlin's face got an empty face expression when his eyes first fell on the body. They rested there for just a second, before they continued to the man in front of him. Alcyr must have seen this, because he shouted:

"You don't dare to look at me!" Then he turned around and smirked evilly at Gwaine, before he started to punch Merlin, again and again. Gwaine thought that his friend probably was dying, no matter what Morgana had said to Alcyr about not killing them. It seemed like every time Alcyr punced Merlin a little bit of the light in his eyes disappeared, and with evey punch he looked more and more tired and paler and paler.

There was nothing Gwaine could do, nothing but look when Alcyr hit the numb body of Merlin. How skinny he was, nothing but skin and bones, the man Gwaine had come to see as one of his best friends. And now he was about to be killed by Alcyr.

Gwaine could hear Merlins breathing, it was shallow and it sounded like every breath was a struggle, that every breath could be the last. But just when Gwaine thought that Merlin couldn't take it no more, Morgana appeared in the doorway.

"What did I say?!" She shouted, "You were NOT to kill the manservant!" And with those words and a flash of gold in her eyes Alcyr flung to the wall and dropped unconscious. She didn't even need to utter a spell, which showed how incredibly powerful she was. Gwaine wondered how they were ever to stop her.

"Ah, it's so hard to find good minions these days, don't you think Emrys?" Morgana said.

"Why didn't you let him kill Merlin? To kill him yourself?" Gwaine was relieved that Alcyr hadn't killed Merlin, but he had to ask the question.

"No, Emrys. To be said to be so wise I think you are pretty dumb. I will not kill Merlin, I'm going to let him live, see while I tear down Camelot, stone by stone and then put it together again, creating my own kingdom, where I will be the rightful ruler. When you will no longer stand in my way." She laughed evilly. "And now it is time to put my plan into action."

* * *

Once again, so so sorry for having you all wait. It wasn't my fault, it was the internet who broke down.

Me: *screams*: It was the internet, plese dont leave me, I will give you two chapters, that will make up for it, right?...right? Please don't leave me, it's dark here...XP

Anyway, I always like reviews :)


	18. 18 The older dragon's tale and prophecy

**This chapter basicly wrote itself. Probably because I pretty much just retold like the whole plot to the original Merlin serise (don't worry, no spoilers for season five) but anyway, I always enjoy writing about Aithusa :) I hope I have spelled Kilgharrahs name right (because everywhere I look there are different spelling) **

**Disclaimer: Looka at all the other chapters, the fact hasn't changed**

* * *

The older dragon's tale and prophecy

Aithusa flied over the forest, just like her mistress had told her to. She searched for the king and his knight, just like her mistress had told her to. The wind whipped her body and she could feel the wonderful feeling of air under her wings, belonging to nothing else but the night. It was cold, but the cold didn't bother her. The stars twinkled above her, and the forest was dark beneath her. There was something in the air, she could feel it, and the forest was so quiet that it was almost holding its breath. She wondered why.

She searched and searched, but she couldn't find any trace of the two humans she was looking for. It was like they hadn't been there at all. The wind, who used to tell her everything, whisper to her, was now nothing more than a cold tensile. She couldn't find even the slightest smell of human in the night.

But suddenly she could feel something in the wind, but it wasn't the smell of the two humans. No, it was the smell of something older, and with a jolt she realized that it was the smell of another dragon!

Even though she knew that her mistress would disapprove, Aithusa was just a young and pretty lonely dragon, and she couldn't resist the chance of meeting another of her kind. So she flew towards the smell, longer away than she had ever been before. She landed in a big clearing, next to a mountain, in which she could feel the other dragon was sleeping.

"Hello?" She said telepathically, because she had yet to develop the ability to speak with her mouth. She could feel the mountain move as the older dragon waked up and started to move towards her.

"Ah, young dragon." The older dragon said as he stuck his head out the cave, followed by his enormous almost golden body. The older and the younger dragon stood for a while and looked at each other before the older dragon said:

"You don't remember me, young child." It was a statement, not a question, but Aithusa shook her head anyway.

"Are you my dad?" The little dragon asked, still telepathically, her voice like the one of a five year human child.

"No, young Aithusa, I am not. Your father died a long time ago." The older dragon said, trying to sound as kind as possible. Aithusa looked like she was going to cry, if crying was possible for dragons.

"How do you know my name then?" She wanted to know.

"I may not be your father, but I was there when you were hatched by the one that are called many names. He, if anyone, can be considered your father, young Aithusa."

"So there are more dragons?" The little said, the hope shining through her voice.

"No, little one. Don't you know that the dragons are not hatched by other dragons, but by the humans that are called dragon lords?"

"So, my mistress hatched me?" The little dragon said.

"Your mistress, who is she?" The older dragon said, as he chuckled a bit.

"She is the one who has taken care of me, treated me well and protected me from Emrys. She is who the humans call Morgana Pendragon." Aithusa said, proud over her mistress, and she crouched and trembled in fear when the older dragon shrieked in rage at the sound of her words.

"Morgana Pendragon! That evil witch! 'Protected you from Emrys'!" The dragon cried out, and then he sprayed fire all over the clearing in raw rage. Aithusa didn't know what wrong she had said or done to this dragon, and scared as she was she took off from the burning inferno the clearing now was and flew as fast as she could into the night.

But her wings were smaller than the old dragons and were misshaped from her captivity, and she couldn't fly as fast as the old dragon could. Aithusa realized that she didn't even know his name, she had never asked, and now he was flying right behind her.

So many times had she imagined how it would be to meet another dragon, but not one time she had imagined it to be this bad. In her imagination they would meet and then fly together to her mistress and the three of them would live happily ever after. How could the dragon not like her mistress? Even though she had a bit of a creepy taste in castles it was nothing serious. And had her mistress ever been bad to her, ever not protected her from the dangerous Emrys and all the baddies that lived in the feared and evil city of Camelot? The ones who had been so bad to her mistress, the ones who sought to kill her?

As scared as she was, she could not fly for very long, and she could not fly very fast and she was still too long from her mistress castle, and she was tired by the flight. So she had to land, and when she did the older dragon was not long behind. When he landed next to her Aithusa could see that he wasn't as angry as before, but she was still scared of her.

"What's your name?" She asked, and even she herself could hear the fear in her voice. She hoped that the old dragon couldn't, even if she didn't think that was the case.

"You do not have to fear me, dear Aithusa. I am Kilgharrah, the only dragon that still lives in this part of the world, the only one that survived the Great Purge, ordered by the tyrant Uther."

"Why did you talk bad about mistress?" The little one asked, now a bit curious on the older dragon. She didn't know what the Great Purge was, but her mistress had told her all about king Uther. He had been almost as bad as Emrys.

"Let me tell you a story, dear child." Aithusa felt a bit confused, why did the old dragon, Killshara or whatever he was called, randomly tell a story? But she liked stories, so she nodded. Kilgharra started to tell:

"_There once upon a time was a great city. But the city was ruled by a tyrant, who only worshiped fear and hated magic. He had a son, whom he never told he loved, and a daughter whom he never even told was his daughter. _

_ His son was, unlike his father, a great man, guided by a young warlock. The kings daughter, on the other hand, turned out to be just like him. But she hated her father, for she had magic and knew that if he knew then he would kill her. So the kings daughter tried to kill her own father._

_ The young warlock, clever as he was, started to protect the king from his daughter, even if he knew that the king would kill him if he knew. The warlock didn't protect the king because he liked him, but because his son wasn't ready to take over as king. _

_ But the kings daughter, who hated the king, could never understand why the warlock was protecting him and started to hate the warlock too because he sided with the king and not with her. _

_ And when the old king finally died his son took his place, and everything was as good as it could be. The city flourished and the new king was fair and just, the young warlock by his side. But the kings daughter was so twisted by her hatred that she could not stop hating, not even when the king was dead. She still hated the warlock, and she hated the new king as well, because if he was to change the rule against magic that would take time and she didn't want to wait. _

_ So instead she tried to take the throne with violence, and now she wanted revenge. She wanted revenge on everyone without magic and she had turned into her father, as cruel and greedy as he had been." _

Kilgharrah stopped there and Aithusa looked impatiently at him. The old dragon didn't seem to notice it though so Aithusa asked:

"Well? What happened, did the king and the warlock ever defeat the kings daughter? You can't stop the story there!" The older dragon looked at her in amusement and chuckled a bit.

"So impatient, little one, but don't you see? I can't tell the rest of the story, because we are still writing it. Heed my words young dragon, when Magic, Strength and Courage are together nothing can stand in their way, but they will be parted and one side of the coin cannot exist without the other, and without Strength Magic will not be able to support Courage and the two sides can never live on their own. You have to, when the time has come, make the right decision even if it isn't easy." Aithusa stared in absolute confusion as Kilgharrah (or whatsoever his name was) unfolded his wings and jumped off into the sky.

"Don't let the kings daughter win" he shouted as he slowly became smaller and smaller as he flew away into the night sky.

For a long time Aithusa just sat there and wondered what the old dragon had _really_ meant, because even if she was still young she could understand that he had meant something with his tale and the prophecy he had shared her. But she couldn't for her life understand what it was, so she decided that she had thought about it long enough and took off, heading back to the fort.

Her intuition told her not to tell her mistress about this, and she was puzzled but she did as it told her. The searching for the king and his knight was forgotten since a long time ago.

* * *

**Aithusa is sooo cute, I love that little dragon. Reminds me of Guineapig babys XP **

**Anyway, you know I love reviews right? *wink wink***


	19. The damage of a crystal

**I want to than you all som much! 51 Reviews, I can't believe it! You are all so INCREDEBLY AMAZING! I love you all! Here is an extra long chapter for you :) **

**Disclaimer: Yeah, I bought Merlin yesterday in a grocery store, because it is a normal thing to buy there. So now I own Merlin...or not :/ I'm just messing with the characters hehe**

* * *

The damage of a crystal

"And now it's time to put my plan into action." Morgana said and smirked. A shiver went down Gwaines spine, this could only lead to no good. Where were Arthur and Percival? He hoped that they hadn't got caught, even if it was likely that they had.

Morgana muttered a spell and suddenly his chains where nowhere to be seen. He wondered if Morgana was stupid or something releasing him of his chains, but before he had the chance to do anything Morgana had uttered another spell and the last thing he heard was Merlin scream before everything went dark.

-oOo-

Merlin was in a hazy state of fatigue and was only half noticing what Morgana was doing.

He watched with growing fear as she cracked Gwaines chains open only to seconds later utter a spell and make Gwaine fall down to the floor, unconscious. Merlin may or may not have screamed there, at later occasion he couldn't tell what exactly he had done.

He saw as Morgana ordered the guards to drag a big stone table that had been in a corner of the giant room to the middle of it. Merlin hadn't noticed the table before but he immediately recognized its purpose.

He watched as the guards dragged the table to the middle of the room and then laid Gwaine on it, strapped leather straps around his arms and legs so he wasn't able to move. A shiver was running down his spine. This was a sacrificial table, and Morgana was going to sacrifice Gwaine.

The thought was like a cold shower. He couldn't let that happen. Suddenly his hazed mind became crystal clear. He had brought Gwaine here, and _he_ had to make sure he survived out of this. He kind of regretted that he had dragged Gwaine and Percival in to this now.

He was almost sure that Arthur and Percival wouldn't make it in time, it was up to him to save the day, as it was on most occasions he thought to himself.

But what could he do? He was too tired to use his magic and he could barely focus at all. He didn't have the time to think any longer, because Morgana came walking towards him.

"Ah, it's nice to see that you have come to sense again. Now you can witness everything I am about to do to Emrys here. Yes, feel the pain, your so called friend over there is actually the great Emrys. Isn't so nice when your friends betray you, is it?" She smirked but when she didn't get a reaction from Merlin she continued, sounding incredibly smug:

"Do you know what I am going to do to him? No, of course you don't, but I am going to tell you, and then I'll have you watch every second of it." Morgana said and from a leather pouch she had been having around her neck, which Merlin hadn't noticed before, she took out a crystal. Merlin immediately recognized it as a crystal from the crystal cave and as desperately as he tried to not look at it he couldn't resist. The world and the room disappeared as he looked deeper and deeper into the crystal, not able to look away.

_Arthur paced forth and back again in a small room with axes and swords on the walls, his own sword hanging by his side. Percival sitting with his head in his hands at a wall, looking exhausted. _

The pictures changed.

_Gwaine carrying Merlin's lifeless body throughout the corridors of the fort. _

The pictures changed again.

_Gwaine, Arthur and Percival in a forest, Percival carrying the still lifeless body of Merlin. _

Once again the picture changed.

_A little furry grey kitten with blue eyes, looking straight towards him through the crystal. _

The pictures died out. Not until then Merlin realized that Morgana had watched his face expression closely the whole time, and he tried to blink the tears out of his eyes.

He was going to die. But his friends would survive this, which was all that mattered.

"You know what this is, don't you?" Morgana mused. "You don't only know what it is, you saw something. Tell me what you saw." Her voice was eager, and she looked like a little girl on Christmas day, her eyes shining.

"Never!" Merlin cried out.

"Well, if you don't then I'll kill Emrys. Or well, I won't exactly kill him since he can't die that would be pretty pointless…" She didn't get any longer before Merlin burst out;

"Wait what?! I'm not…I mean Emrys isn't…"

"Quiet! Emrys is immortal, and that is why I could never kill him. Another fact you didn't know about _Gwaine_. Doesn't feel good, when a friend betrays you, now does it? Maybe you think that he'll get what he deserves. You see, with this crystal you cannot only see things, you can trap things as well. And I am going to trap Emrys soul forever, and when he can't help Camelot I will take my rightful place at the throne." She smirked when she saw the expression of clean terror on Merlin's face.

"And you will have to watch everything." She added, her tone not just a bit smug. As she walked away Merlin desperately tried to think of a plan. The crystal had showed him the future, and he knew that there wasn't anything he could do to avoid it, but that he had to make it happen.

He grew more and more desperate as he saw Morgana walk up to the side of the sacrificial table where Gwaine was and when she started to chant the spell, the crystal raised in both her hands he acted without thinking.

He just couldn't let Morgana do this to Gwaine, at every cost he couldn't. Gwaine wasn't going to die, he had seen it in the crystal. He was the one that was going to die. So he blurted out, his voice thin:

"Stop! Gwaine is not Emrys, I am. Every time you have tried to take over I have stopped you. I even stopped you from killing Uther at several occasions ad Arthur too. Remember when you tried to take over Camelot with an army of undead? Well I stopped you. The first time you tried to kill Uther? I stopped it. The time when Gwen was evil? I told Arthur how to get her normal again. I cured Gwens father, I gave Arthur the sword to kill undead with, I made sure Gwen wasn't executed when you put the love spells on her and Arthur. It was me you met as an old man, I hatched Aithusa, I AM EMRYS!" He cried out. Morgana looked terrified and outraged and betrayed all at once.

"How could you?! I was your friend, I trusted you! When I was feeling alone and afraid, all that time you had magic, you could have talked to me, trusted me. All this time…!" Morgana screamed, betrayal and rage in her eyes. She had stopped uttering the spell when Merlin had started to speak, but now she started again, faster and fiercer then before.

But this time she wasn't uttering the spell towards Gwaine, but towards Merlin. He really hadn't the energy to do anything, and even if he had he hadn't known what to do. He had never seen this kind of spell before, never even heard of it.

But he could feel that it was powerful, this spell that was going to trap him in a crystal for all eternity. He could feel the tension building up in the room, the magic was swirling all around the place. It was like the feeling you get right before a thunderstorm, when everything is hot and stuffy and the air is heavy to breathe.

He was feeling exactly the same now, and he could feel his body react to the magic in the room, with a power he didn't know he still possessed. His body was reacting instinctively to the spell, to the mass of magic swirling around the room, waiting to be unleashed.

Maybe that was the reason to what happened next. Nobody would know exactly why what happened happened, but happen it did.

Merlin could feel the very second when Morgana unleashed the magic, he could feel that this was strong and powerful, _old_ magic. That was all he could think before the spell, a half second later, hit him with its full force.

At once, everything was completely still, and Merlin thought; _So this is how it ends, I'm dead. _He felt how his consciousness left his body, and suddenly he was looking down at his own body. How small and skinny he looked, he thought to himself.

Then he looked around the room. He saw Morgana, still holding the crystal over her head in her palms. He saw Gwaine, who had suddenly opened his eyes, trying to look around. Merlin felt at peace, like nothing really mattered anymore.

But suddenly he felt something starting to pull him. At first it was just a little nagging feeling at the edge of his consciousness, so tiny that he didn't really notice it. But it grew bigger and more powerful, and soon the whole of his consciousness was involved in a fight against the pull.

He realized that it was the spell trying to drag him into the crystal. He knew that there was no way out of the crystal, and if he would get sucked into it there was no return. So he had to fight now. He didn't know why he even could fight, if it was because Morgana had been so angry when she uttered the spell that she had said something wrong or that it was his own powers who had tried to protect him. Either way, he was fighting for all that he had. And he was winning.

Suddenly the pull slowly died out. Merlin felt relief, he had managed to conquer the spell, and once again he was free. But he couldn't stay like this, in this shape for long. He could feel the old religion calling, furious because the lack of balance the spell had caused.

He wanted to get back into his body again, quick, but before he could even attempt to do so the old religion pulled him back, into the first creature that had room for him.

Unfortunately, that happened to not be his own body, and even if he had fought the spell and won, the old religion was no spell but the magic of the earth itself, angry and demanding that the balance would be restored.

Merlins mind collided with the mind of the little kitten, who had been sitting in a little alcove outside the throne room, scared and lonely. He was no longer Merlin, the king's manservant, Merlin, the great warlock, Merlin, the dragonlord.

Now he was just Merlin, the little kitten, and all he could think of was food, water, longing after his mother and being scared of the big-white-creepy-thing-with-wings. He was Merlin the kitten, and that was all he had ever been and was ever going to be. He had no thoughts of tomorrow, or of yesterday. He had no past, no future, he was just another little furry thing in a castle full of magic and creepy black stones.

* * *

**Now you read it...pass your sentence. PLease don't kill me tough. Reviews are the best, I would love to know what you think of the chapter and the plot so far :3 See you next Sunday and in the reviews, bye :)**


	20. 20 The secrets of the armory

**Tank you all so much for all the reviews on last chapter :) You know I love you all, right? Well here is the next chapter, sory for that it is kinda short and very confusing. But pm me or tell me in a review if you don't get it at all ok? and we'll see if we can figure it out together...**

**Disclaimer: Why would I writhe this if I owned Merlin?**

* * *

**The secrets of the armory**

Arthur didn't know how long they had been in the armory room. But he was hungry, and thirsty. The energy that Merlin had given him was almost gone, and he could feel that with every minute he grew more and more tired.

They had to get out of the armory room, quick. But how? He knew that the kitten had somehow gotten out of there, but no matter how much they tried they couldn't get out. The place was like a deathtrap.

Arthur wondered why there wasn't anybody else there. Surely Morgana would have noticed that they had escaped by now and surely this would be one of the first places they would look at.

But maybe, just maybe Morgana didn't know about this place. Maybe someone else had enchanted it, and that was why nobody had been looking there, he thought. It wasn't very likely for it to be that way, but it was strange that nobody had looked for them there. He didn't know how right he was until somebody stepped through the wall.

It all happened very fast. He was sitting against the wall next to Percival, thinking about a way to get out. Suddenly somebody walked through the wall. The man had blonde hair and icy blue eyes and he looked kind of like a blond Agravaine, and Arthur really hoped that this man wasn't related to his uncle. That whole story was painful enough.

It took exactly five seconds for Arthur and Percival to stand up, swords in hands, and point them towards the newcomer. The man looked utterly surprised and threw his hands up in the air.

"You!" Percival exclaimed, recognition in his voice. Arthur looked at his fellow knight. Clearly Percival knew this man, or had at least seen him before.

"So it's here you are hiding. I'm sure Morgana would be more than glad to know where you are." The man smiled.

"You wouldn't even dare to tell her!" Arthur said, his sword pointed at the man's chest.

"You can't tell me what to do! I'm not afraid of you. That rhymed" The man said and _giggled_, and grown-ups shouldn't giggle in that way, it sent a shiver down Arthurs spine. Then the man's eyes glowed gold for a second and then Arthurs sword was torn out of his hand. It flied across the little room but instead of hitting the wall it flew right through it. Not the wall they came in trough, but _another _wall.

Both Arthur and Percival stared at the sword, or more at the spot where the sword had disappeared.

"So you didn't know how to get out of here then, I guess." The newcomer said, smirking. The king and his knight turned their attention back to the man, who they now knew as a sorcerer.

"What is this place, and who are you exactly?" Percival asked, looking at the man.

"Well, I'm Alcyr, at your service." He said and bowed. Percival pointed his sword at Alcyr and he quickly got up again.

"There is no use in that." He said and nodded at the sword. "This, my friends" he continued and made a gesture around the room with his arm, "is my secret armory. You see, when working for someone like Morgana you always need to have a plan B. She doesn't even know that I have magic." He giggled again. "So I made this. Unfortunately you had to step in here and now I need to kill you, but it is as it is." He said with a shrug.

"You don't dare to threaten your king!" Percival exclaimed, stepping closer to the man. "Tell us how to get out of here!"

"I'm not afraid of you." Alcyr giggled, "But I will tell you how to get out, not because you will ever get the chance, but it's good fun. You see, I created this as a plan B if Morgana would somehow decide that I had displeased her in any way. The possibility exists." Alcyr shrugged. "Anyway, this is for both me and my men, but it is only I who knows how to get out. If I told my men how to get out they would maybe try to steal something. So now they know that this exists, but they know that if they walk in they can't get out. I'm a genius." He giggled.

"You see, you walk in through that wall." He said and pointed towards the wall Arthur and Percival had walked in through, "but to get out, you need to walk through that wall." He pointed towards the other wall, through which he had thrown the sword.

"And the best is that you walk through that wall, but you end up at the same place as if you would have walked through that wall" He pointed towards the first again. "So if anyone would have ever seen me walk out of here I would appear to have walked out of the same wall, and nobody would try the other walls, but focus at the wall you walked in through."

Alright, Arthur thought, the man was crazy and very ugly looking, but that was actually a quite brilliant idea. Maybe Merlin could create something like that back in Camelot, it could be useful. If Merlin still was alive that was, he thought.

But right now they had more important things to take care about. For one, a sorcerer who was clearly mental was going to try to kill them.

"Well, now when I told you all my secrets I'm going to need to kill you." Alcyr giggled. "First of all, we need to get rid of that pointy thing you have." He said, looking at Percival. Alcyrs whispered a few incomprehensible words and then his eyes glowed gold and then…nothing happened. Alcyrs eyes regained their normal icy blue, and well, that was that.

Arthur looked from Percival's sword to Alcyrs startled face expression and back.

Alcyr said something again, this time higher, but nothing happened. He seemed to get more and more desperate until Percival knocked him out with the hilt of his sword.

"What do we do now?" He said, turning to Arthur. "We can't just leave him here, now can we?"

"I don't really think we have a chance. Look for something we can bind him with, like a rope or something." The king answered. "He will probably get out of it when he wakes up, but there isn't much we can do about it now."

Percival found a rope and they left Alcyr in the armory room, bound to hands and feet. They walked out through the wall Alcyr had showed them and found themselves at the corridor where they had first walked in. Arthur's sword still lay on the floor, from where Alcyr had thrown it.

"Quick, we need to find Merlin and Gwaine." Arthur whispered, so that if anybody was near they wouldn't hear them. It wasn't hard to find their way back to the room where Morgana held their friends, but they were slowed down by the fact that there were soldiers and guards almost everywhere, looking for them. Or that was at least what they thought the soldiers and guards were doing.

Five times they had to hide in different places and two times they had to knock some guards out, but whether it was luck or fate, they managed to make it to the throne room alive.

* * *

**I hope you will live through this horrible confusing chapter, where lot is explained, I think. And viritual cookies to everyone that can guess what Percivals new sword can do :) Anyway, please tell me what you think, if you actuall understood the concept of the armory room and...well stuff. You can basicly write anything you want and I'll appriciate it :) **

**See you next week and in the reviews :)**


	21. He isn't dead

**Please, please, please forgive me for not updating. I feel really bad about it but I'm having a huge writers-block right now and really don't know where I want to go with this story. Though I feel really bad and will try my absolute best to update next sunday again. **

**Disclaimer: Yeah, I do really own Merlin -.- **

**Without further ado, here's the story.**

* * *

**21 He isn't dead**

Arthur putted his finger to his mouth in a gesture of silence towards Percival. They had knocked out the guards standing the outside of the door to the throne room, and where now glaring in.

On the other side of the door Gwaine was bound to a big table in the middle of the room, but he seemed forgotten at the moment. Arthur and Percival couldn't hear what was said, but they could see Morgana uttering some kind of spell towards Merlin, looking outraged. She held the crystal above her head and with a jolt Arthur realized what she was doing.

"We must stop her from what she is doing, quickly!" He whispered to Percival before he entered the room. Morgana didn't even look at them, probably she didn't even notice them, so caught-up in her spell. There were no guards in the room, a fact that was surprising both Arthur and Percival. Slowly they crept towards Morgana, trying to not catch her attention.

Arthur quickly motioned with his hands that Percival should untie Gwaine while he attacked his half-sister. But as he slowly walked towards her, sword in hand, he saw that Merlin had collapsed in his chains and Morgana was swaying, apparently tired from the spell she had performed. Arthur was outraged at the site.

"What have you done to him?!" He shouted at his sister as he started to run towards her.

Morgana turned around, a tired look in her eyes, but yet so incredibly smug.

"It is over dear Arthur, Emrys is gone." She said with a tired smirk. Suddenly Arthur stopped running, standing dead still. Merlin was gone, it was really over.

He didn't know how she had figured out that it was Merlin and not Gwaine who was Emrys, and as much as he was glad for Gwaine being safe, he could not help but wish that Morgana hadn't found out. Merlin, Merlin, his best friend Merlin, his secret protector and useless servant Merlin was gone. Trapped in a crystal forever and eternally. He would never see his beloved friend again.

It wasn't supposed to end like this. Of them both, Arthur had always thought that he would die first. But, he reminded himself, Merlin wasn't dead, he had to face a fate much worse. He was trapped forever, alone in his crystal prison.

"You evil witch!" He shouted, "How could you?!"

"Oh, you think that I'm the bad and Merlin was all good, don't you?! Why don't you ask him about that time with the poison? Oh, wait, you can't…because he is gone." She looked so incredibly smug, and that was straw that broke the camel's back. Arthur didn't think at all, and what he did was totally unexpected, even to himself.

It was unexpected from Morganas side too, apparently. One second he just stood there, like he had given up and the next he launched himself forward and before Morgana could react he had given her a blow to the side with his sword.

It wasn't like a deadly blow or anything, but Morgana was tired from the spell she had performed only minutes before. She held her hands at her side, grasping at the sudden pain and for a second she looked surprised and angry but then she looked up at the eyes of her brother, smirking through the pain.

"No matter what you do, he will always be gone." She said, before she uttered a transportation spell and was gone before anybody could even blink. Arthur felt down to his knees, dejected.

-oOo-

Gwaine struggled to stand up. He had seen when Percival and Arthur came through the door, and when the king gave Morgana a blow in her side with his sword. And now Arthur was kneeling on the floor, Morgana long gone. Percival had freed him from the ropes around his wrist and feet. Luckily for them Morgana hadn't used chains this time, but simple ropes. Gwaine slowly walked towards Arthur, afraid that he would fall.

That was before he laid his eyes on Merlin's lifeless body. Merlin was still bruised and had blood in his face from when Alcyr had hit him. Gwaine wondered to where the guy had sneaked off. He wasn't in the room anymore.

Merlin was paler than ever before, and his eyelids where shut. Gwaine moved towards Merlin as quickly as he could, which was way too slowly in his own opinion. When he finally reached the lifeless body of his friend he didn't know what to do. Merlin was breathing, but it was shallow and he made no sign of further life.

"Merlin? Merlin, are you okay, mate? Please wake up, please!" Gwaine said, holding Merlin's numb body in his arms.

"Is he alright?" Percival asked, standing beside and watching Gwaine and Merlin with concern.

"What do you think?! Help me with these chains!" Gwaine snapped, to upset to care about how rude he had just been to Percival. However, the other knight understood that fact and picked up his sword to try to cut lose Merlin's lifeless body from the chains it was attached to.

As expected, he couldn't cut through them with his sword, and after thinking for a moment he walked back towards his king, who still sat paralyzed in the middle of the room, his head in his hands.

"It's okay Arthur" Percival said "Merlin's alive. You have to help us cut him free before there comes any guards."

"No, it is NOT okay. You have no idea what she has done…no idea. And I couldn't do anything to stop her!"

"What are you talking about? We need to get out of here sire!" Percival exclaimed, before glaring at Arthurs sword, now laying on the ground, Morganas blood still on it.

"You have to use your sword and cut Merlin free!" When Arthur didn't respond Percival decided that he had to do something, quick. And he wasn't a sorcerer, so he couldn't just crack the chains open like Merlin had.

The thought sent chills down his spine. He still couldn't quite believe that he was trying to _rescue_ a sorcerer, and less that that the sorcerer was Merlin. The goofy, clumsy manservant Merlin.

Percival pushed the thoughts aside. The guards could be here in any minute. _Morgana _could be here in any minute. God knew what she could be doing right now, with those powers she possessed he wouldn't put it past her to find a way to heal herself.

Percival made a decision. He looked at his king who was still kneeling on the floor, and then he looked at his fellow knight who was holding Merlin's lifeless body in his arms. Then sheeted his own sword back into its hilt and picked up the bloody sword from the floor.

He hated to use the sword of his king, especially a magical sword that belonged to his king, but since Arthur wasn't in the state to help them he had to. Determined he walked towards the chains and without another word he cut them off. It was like cutting through butter, not the compact metal chains he was actually cutting through. It was eerie and unnatural and Percival had to resist the urge to throw the thing away.

He wondered if Arthur, who was the one most hostile to magic, had ever noticed this. Probably he hadn't, he wasn't the most attentive person after all. Not tha Percival would ever tell his king that.

The chains fell down and before he could do anything more Gwaine had taken Merlin's limp body in his arms, lifting him up. Though the manservant didn't weigh much, especially not since he had grown even thinner in his captivity, Gwaine was having a hard time lifting him up, he swayed this way and that.

Percival though that he might had gotten a light conclusion or something, and decided to do something.

"Gwaine, I think I should carry him." He said "You should see if you can talk to Arthur, we need to get out of here." Unwillingly and very careful Gwaine handed Merlin over to Percival and walked towards the place where the king sat.

"We don't have time to play any games now princess, we need to _get the hell out of here!" _He said to Arthur, and when there was no response he continued "Merlin's life can depend on it!"

That did raise a reaction, but not the one Gwaine had expected and hoped for. Arthur suddenly rose, looking incredibly tired and said:

"You don't get it…Merlin is already dead…or worse" He said before trailing off, his eyes unfocused. Gwaine went cold at Arthurs statement. Gwaine wanted to ask him what he meant, more than anything, but now wasn't the time for questions.

Arthur seemed to be so dejected, and Gwaine knew that his king was not one to give up easily. He looked around and saw Percival waiting already at the door, his face anxiously. He occasionally looked out the door to see if there were any guards coming toward them, but yet they had been lucky.

Without further thoughts Gwaine put his arm around Arthur and helped him up. He was swaying, and Gwaine helped him walk towards the door where Percival waited anxiously with Merlin in his arms and Arthurs sword in his hand.

* * *

**There you have it. Please leave a review and tell me that you haven't abandoned me, and please leave any idea that you might have, thing you want to happen in the futer etc. I really need some insperation. And so sorry that I haven't answered to any reviews last chapter, I promes I will now.**


	22. What a kitten can do

**Here you go, I'm so sorry for not updating but so much is ahppening in my Life right now and I just can't coupe with everything. So yeah, hope you still remember this? Probably you don't, but I will try to continue Writing this when I have time, but it is very intense right now, but yeah, I'll try and that's something :) **

**Dsclaimer: Me: Merlin, do I own you?**

**Merlin: No! *Looks at me weird* Why would you own me? **

**Arthur: Yeah, what makes you Think YOU own MY manservant? **

**Merlin: Um Arthur, I do actually own myself, you know that right? **

**Arthur: Hmpftttt**

**Merlin *rolls Eyes* **

**Me: OUT! NOW! You are distracting the readers! **

**Gwaine: Excuse the author, she's tired. **

**Me: Out, out NOW! *rocks in corner with arms around knees* **

**Merlin: Since the author has gone mental, here is the story, and yeah, I'm still a kitten in it *Glares daggers at author* **

What a kitten can do

Merlin was a normal kitten. He remembered a time with several other kittens, a time when he could play and have fun. He remembered a bigger cat, one that meant safety, food and warmth. He remembered getting lost in a big dark forest, and he remembered The-big-white-creepy-thing-with-wings taking him to this place.

He remembered The-big-white-creepy-thing-with-wings talking to him like no one ever had before and he remembered The-big-white-creepy-thing-with-wings talking to a human. He remembered other things too, things he couldn't understand, things he couldn't remember actually have been through, like someone had placed the memories there.

He remembered a blond human, one of those with only little fur on them, he remembered a sharp stick, grey, made of something that was quite not stone, shining in the air as the blond human held it over his head. He remembered other humans too, humans he had never meet.

When Merlin thought about it, he wasn't a normal kitten. And that was the problem, kittens didn't _think, _at least not to this extinct_._ They didn't have names either, and yet he kept referring to himself as Merlin. The kitten whose name was Merlin couldn't ever remember thinking before, never remember having a name. When had this happened? He couldn't tell. It was terrifying, but yet pleasant, to have an opinion, be able to think of more complicated stuff than food and sleep and The-big-white-creepy-thing-with-wings.

He was sitting in his alcove, trying to figure out what had happened to him, when he heard the noises he knew were human noises. He was scared, but yet, he was a kitten, always curious.

So he made his way out of the alcove and down the hallway, idle curious to find out who made the funny noises.

-oOo-

Gwaine was the one to walk last. He was holding Merlin in his arms now, trying not to think about how shallow his breathing was and that they could be attacked at any minute.

Percival walked first, looking as anxiously as Gwaine felt, his sword ready. He had given back Arthurs sword to the king, who was the one walking in the middle of their little group. Arthur was tired, and he almost staggered now, and Gwaine thought that the energy Merlin had given him probably had worn off. That meant, that if they were attacked it was him and Percival who would have to fight, Arthur wasn't able to.

Even though Gwaine liked those kinds of odds, he just wanted to get back to Camelot as quick as possible, so they could get Merlin the help he needed. Gwaine hoped that it wasn't too late. And since he was holding Merlin he would have to set the man down first, and in that way expose himself during the fight. No, a fight was the last thing they needed right now.

Suddenly Gwaine heard a noise coming from behind them. He quickly spun around and instead of seeing the soldiers he had expected (and dreaded) he saw a little grey furry kitten stand in the middle of the hallway, looking at them with big blue kitty eyes.

Why was there a kitten in here? Morgana didn't seem like someone who kept a pet, less a kitten. Maybe he was hallucinating. Gwaine couldn't really find a good reason to why he could be hallucinating, but neither could he find a good reason to why there would be a kitten here.

"Um…guys…" Gwaine whispered "Is it only me or is it a kitten staring at me over there?" He asked and pointed towards the kitten. The question sounded weird even to Gwaine's own ears, but he had to ask. Percival turned around and looked weird at Gwaine before his eyes fell to the kitten. His eyes grew larger.

"Arthur, isn't that the cat from before?" He asked, and Gwaine frowned but didn't ask further. Arthur barely turned around and mumbled something incoherent before he continued. Percival whispered:

"Yes, there is a kitten there, but as long as it doesn't attack you, just leave it, okay?"

Gwaine mumbled something about creepy kittens and then the continued down the hallway.

-oOo-

The humans looked at him. They looked at him with their big dark eyes, and all he could do was look back. It was frightening, but still, there was something familiar about them. Merlin the Kitten couldn't put his finger on it.

Wait a minute! He didn't have a finger to put on something, he had a paw with little claws on it. From where did that locution come? Once again Merlin felt like something was off, kittens didn't have weird locutions in their minds. But once again, Merlin the Kitten thought, he was no normal kitten.

Suddenly the humans started to walk again, away from Merlin. The one walking last, also the one with the most fur on his head, made some low sound when they started to walk. Merlin couldn't really do much other than follow them, he really didn't know what else to do. So follow them he did, even though The-One-With-The-Brown-Fur kept glaring at him occasionally.

They turned left and walked throughout another creepy corridor when Merlin heard it. The humans didn't seem to react, probably because they couldn't hear as good as he could, Merlin thought, but _he_ could indeed hear the footsteps. By the sound of it they were many.

Suddenly Merlin felt the urge to protect these human beings. He didn't know why, and he certainly didn't know how, but somewhere deep down he knew that he _had_ to protect these humans, at all costs. But what do you do if you are a little kitten who has to fight an unknown number of soldiers?

Yet the soldiers weren't near enough for the humans to hear their footsteps, or at least Merlin didn't think they could hear the footsteps, because surly they would've reacted if they had. But the soldiers were slowly making their way towards them.

Merlin the Kitten decided that the first thing he had to do was to check how many soldiers there were, then he would at least have an opinion about how many they were. So he ran past the humans, and Merlin was sure he heard The-One-With-The-Brown-Fur mutter something Merlin didn't understand. He didn't stop to think about it either.

He ran through out endless of black corridors, towards the sound of footsteps. Or at least it felt like endless of corridors for a little kitten. Way to soon he rounded a corner and was staring right in to the eyes of about twelve surprised soldiers who stared back at him. When they came over the first surprise they talked a bit with each other and then one of them started to come closer and closer, prattling loudly.

But Merlin couldn't be deceived. These humans meant harm to the others, and he had to stop them. He didn't know why, and he didn't care either. Somewhere deep down he knew that he had to stop the soldiers, that if he didn't something horrible would happen.

So he did the only thing he could do as the soldier came closer. When the soldier was just a few feet away Merlin attacked. He launched himself at the face of the soldier, and with a roar he didn't know he could make he started to claw the poor man's face, and the soldier screamed and there were blood.

The man staggered backwards, trying desperately to take away the _thing_ that was trying to claw his eyes out. The other soldiers hadn't quite noticed what had happened first, it had all happened so fast, but now they were trying to get the kitten away from their friend's face.

But Merlin wasn't about to give up. These humans were trying to kill his friends, they deserved to die. That was a weird thought, Merlin thought. Why was he considering the other humans as his friends, and these as his enemies? He couldn't ever remember having done that before. But he hadn't thought very much at all before.

But after all, he was still just a kitten and he didn't have time for moral dilemmas. And just when he was letting go of the man's face to attack another of them he felt big hands grabbing his thin body and holding him.

Merlin couldn't see the man's face, and no matter how much he tried to wriggle he couldn't get away from his iron hold. But he could see the face of the soldier he had attacked and the man's face was never going to be the same. Merlin felt somewhat smug, despite his current situation.

He was turned around so he could see his captors face. The man had blond hair and icy blue eyes. Merlin felt like he had met this person somewhere before, even though he couldn't remember where. One thing he did remember however, and that was that he didn't like this man. He really didn't like this man. He really, really didn't like this man.

_ I hate him,_ Merlin thought. Somewhere deep, deep down inside Merlin something moved at this realization. Something he couldn't control. He felt how it moved through his body, filled him to the breaking point. And at some point it became too much. He couldn't hold it.

So he did the only thing he could: He released the power. For a second he could feel something burning in his eyes, and then it was gone. All the power he had felt was also gone, it was like it had never been there. And the next second he could feel the man holding him letting his grip on him loosen and Merlin fell to the floor, landing on all fours at the same time as the man was flying into the wall. It was all happening in slow-motion, Merlin could see everything in exact detail, it was like the time had somehow slowed down, and then it was over. The man crashed into the wall of the hallway with a horrible crunching sound. Merlin turned around to look at the soldiers with big blue innocent eyes.

They stared back at him with fear in their eyes, looking from the kitten's body with the fur stained with their friends' blood to the now unconscious man on the floor and back again before they started to run. Merlin felt smug. _At least they aren't going to kill my friends now. _Satisfied he started to wander back to the humans he called his friends, even though he didn't know them and had only met them for the briefest of moments.


	23. No longer only Morgana's blood

**Hello wonderful readers! I was really surprised of all the Reviews I got on last chapter THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH! I love you all! **

**On a different note, I was on a class tripp to Gothenburg and Swedens biggest amusment park yesterday, it was reallyfunny but now I'm super tired, so I'll just post it, I haven't read it through Another time like I Always do else. sorry about that :/**

**Disclaimer: **

**Me: Merlin, do I own you know? **

**Merlin: You again?! *groans* what is it with you and think you own me? **

**Me: I have to ask, you know, suddenly I could just own you all, right? **

**Arthur: IN YOUR DREAMS! **

**Me: Yeah, I can dream... **

**Merlin: And where did you get the air from? **

**Merlin:...Sire **

**Me: Yeah, listen to Merlin. **

**Arthur: Let's just go on with the story, ok? *sulking* **

**Me: *rolls eyes* Yeah, here is your story...**

No longer only Morganas blood

Would they ever get out of there? It felt like they had been walking around in circles for hours and hours and Gwaine was painfully aware of every shallow breath Merlin was taking. His friend hadn't made any attempt to wake up yet, and that could not be a good sign.

Suddenly they were hearing rushed footsteps coming quickly towards them, the sound of many feet against the floor. Before they could do anything about a dozen of soldiers came running towards them from around a corner, and Gwaine could see Percival go stiff. He couldn't help but agree, they could never manage so many soldiers on their own. But of course they weren't giving up without a fight.

But that was before the first soldier came running _past_ them, and when Gwaine looked closer on the other soldiers he realized a thing: They weren't running towards them to fight, they were running _away_ from something.

Most of the soldiers didn't even acknowledge them, while some of them stayed to look at them before they continued their path and one even said something sounding strangely like 'possessed kitten, run while you can' and another 'the cat is from hell I say, from hell!'

Gwaine had no idea what to think. Had all of the soldiers suddenly gone crazy? Or had Morgana failed with some incantation and made all the soldiers go mad? But Morgana wasn't even there…he hoped. But he wouldn't put it past the sorceress.

Percival turned around to look at the last soldiers back disappearing behind a corner before he shot a questioning look to Gwaine. Arthur stopped and rested on the wall while looking form one knight to another.

"What the _hell_ was that about?" Gwaine asked, looking at first Arthur and then Percival.

"Whatever it was it scared those soldiers half mad" Percival answered, "Most of them didn't even acknowledge us, the ones they were hunting!"

"What are we going to do then?" Gwaine asked, frowning. "Either we go back the way we came from, and hope that those soldiers are too scared to notice us, or we continue and risk to run into whatever it was who scared those soldiers. But whatever we decide to do we need to do it quickly, if not for us but for Merlin's sake. We need to get out of here."

"I don't know what we should do." Percival stated and then looked to Arthur. The blond looked up as if on cue and there was a determination in his eyes that hadn't been there since they had escaped Morgana. Maybe, just maybe, was Arthur coming back, Gwaine thought.

"I think we should continue forwards." Arthur said. "We have faced many threats, and whatever is ahead can't be that bad."

So without further ado the knights, the king and the unconscious manservant continued down the hall, to face an unknown threat.

-oOo-

Merlin the kitten could hear them before he saw them. He could hear many things now, and somewhere deep down in his consciousness he knew that it hadn't always been like this. For the briefest of moments he could recall the greatest of castles, the boldest and bravest of men and the toughest of fights. It was a land of prosperity and peace, but also a land shattered by wars and beasts. He could recall walking on two legs, chatting with noises he didn't understand to humans he didn't know. And more than anything he could recall Him. Arthur.

But as soon as he tried to grasp the realization it disappeared, leaving him confused to the core. Who was he, really? Could he be just a kitten? Before he could continue his train of thoughts he heard them turn around a corner and suddenly he was staring into the eyes of three equally surprised pair of eyes.

He could see their bodies go rigid. The one who walked first was a giant, a mountain of muscles. He recognized the one who walked last as the one he had named The-One-With-The-Brown-Fur. He was carrying another human in his arms. But before Merlin could inspect the human carried by The-One-With-The-Brown-Fur his eyes fell to the human in the middle. Arthur. Even though he looked nowhere near the colorful picture he had of the human in his head Merlin could see that this was the same human. He wondered why he hadn't noticed this before.

He slowly walked across the distance between them, very aware of the burning eyes the other two send him before he slowly rubbed his head against Arthur.

-oOo-

Gwaine stared at the kitten. Percival stared at the kitten. Arthur stared at the kitten. Gwaine was sure that even Merlin would have stared at the kitten if he was awake. And the kitten stared back. First its big blue eyes fell upon Percival, and then they turned to him. He involuntarily shuddered.

The kittens fur was covered in blood, some dried and some not so dry. But that wasn't the most creepy thing about it, oh no, the most creepy thing was those oh so big blue eyes, eyes holding an almost eerily intelligence in them. Gwaine understood why the soldiers had fled. This was no normal cat.

The kitten broke its staring contest just to let its eyes fall on Arthur. The king was leaning heavily against the wall and looked at the cat like he had never seen anything like it. Which he probably hadn't.

The kitten then surprised them all by walking towards Arthur and _it rubbed its head against his leg_. Percival's eyes grew wide and his face expression was probably mirroring Gwaine's right now. Arthur on the other side only looked down at the kitten with a mild interest before he said:

"We should keep going."

Gwaine thought that he should probably say that the cat could indeed be a demon from hell, but decided not to. So they continued to walk forwards and hopefully they would find a way out.

When they once again rounded a corner ("Wasn't there an end to this maze?" Gwaine thought to himself) the scene that greeted them was like it could have been taken from one of their nightmares.

On one side of the corridor the guy Gwaine thought of as Alcyr (the hated man) was lying unconscious against the wall. But that wasn't what drew their attention. A few meters away from him, leaning against the opposite wall was a guard.

His face was torn apart, and Gwaine didn't find any better expression than _torn apart_, because there was blood everywhere and scratches and his eyelids was torn away and one of his eyes had a big bloody _jag _in it and the man was making these _noises_ and Gwaine had to look away.

Gwaine was a man who had seen many things, both pleasant and …not so pleasant, but that face would follow him in his nightmares for the rest of his life. The kitten suddenly hissed at the sight of the guard. Suddenly Gwaine realized something. He looked at the guard and then at the kitten and then back again. The man's wounds looked like they were made by _claws_ and the kitten surly had enough blood in its fur for the theory to be true.

Neither Percival nor Arthur seemed to have drawn the connection between the kitten and the soldier. Gwaine could of course be wrong…but what if he _wasn't. _ If he wasn't, then the cat could surly be from hell, as one of the soldiers had said.

The soldier with the wounded face tried to say something, but it came out as an incoherent slur. It broke the enchantment that seemed to have lay on the two knights and the king and Percival turned to the king to ask:

"What do we do now?"

"Well, obviously we can't just leave them here…" Arthur started before Gwaine cut him off.

"That guy there, Alcyr or whatever his name is, is insane, and he _nearly killed Merlin!" _Gwaine said, eyes burning with fury at the memory. Also Percival and Arthur looked at the man with new hatred in their eyes. Then they looked at the poor soul with the destroyed face.

"Alcyr is a dangerous and clearly mad sorcerer who tried to kill us and abused Merlin. And for the other, there isn't really much we can do." Arthur said with a sad face before he unsheathed his sword. When they left Arthurs sword were no longer red from only Morganas blood.


End file.
